Best Game Design & Development Programs in Nebraska

There are so many things the average person doesn’t know about the gaming industry. Most people believe that gamers are usually kids, and mostly male. While this may have been the case many decades ago, the industry has changed significantly since then. Today, the age of the average gamer is 32, and 2 out of every 5 gamers are female. Even more amazing is, a whopping 65 percent of U.S. households play video games, and this figure is rapidly increasing. Another area that has changed over the years is the population of people working in this field. This may be the case thanks to the wide variety of ways to play video games, from consoles to computers to cell phones.

In addition to being more common than ever before, the gaming industry generates big bucks. In fact, analysts predict that the industry stands to generate more than $68 billion in 2012. Even better is, according to O*Net OnLine, employment is expected to increase by three to six percent between now and 2020. Other reports predict an even greater increase. Currently, the gaming industry employs more than 200,000 game designers alone and hundreds of thousands of other professionals in the field. Other job titles include developer, programmer, cover artist, animator, tester, and illustrator, to name a few.

The demand for talented (and educated) game designers & developers has led to the development of literally hundreds of competitive training programs across the country. These programs are offered at technical schools, art and design schools, specialty schools, and traditional colleges and universities. According to the Institute of Education Sciences National Center for Education Statistics (IES NCES), the state of Nebraska is home to 43 accredited colleges and universities. Several are ranked among the best. However, so far, one stands out from the rest and it also happens to offer one of the best game design & development programs in the country!

The University of Nebraska at Omaha made the list of “best schools,” for several reasons. According to a number of college ranking organizations, the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO Omaha) is very selective, it has a variety of program offerings, and it has excellent graduation and retention rates. Other considerations include financial resources, faculty resources (such as class size), and peer assessment.

Aspiring game designers & developers have the option of earning a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or a Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A) at UNO Omaha. Degrees offered include a
B. A., B. F. A. in Studio Arts with Emphasis in Independent Game Design, Graphic Design, Intermedia, and Visual Technology.