Taxonomy term

Game design & development programs are offered at technical schools, art and design schools, and at many traditional colleges. Some programs require just two years of study leading to an Associate of Arts (A.A.) degree, while others require four years of study leading to a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.), or a Bachelor of Science (B.S.). Some schools even offer a Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) in game design & development. No matter which degree level you choose, enrolling in a program at an accredited college with an excellent reputation is your best bet. Fortunately, each year, Forbes.com, U.S. News & World Report, Princeton Review and other similar organizations publish a list of the nation’s best schools.

When it comes to the country’s official “best of” lists, what makes an animation school program the best depends on a number of factors that may not have anything to do with enrollment figures or the cost of tuition. Most college ranking agencies use factors such as the number of program offerings, faculty resources (teacher-student ratio), graduation and retention rates, financial resources, student selectivity, and peer assessment to determine the best. Sure, tuition costs matter to just about every parent and student on the planet, and a large student body may sound appealing, but for the purposes of separating what agencies consider “good” schools from “great” schools, these factors don’t carry as much weight as others. 

Arizona might not be the first place that comes to mind when you think about animation, but The Grand Canyon State is actually one of the country’s most attractive settings for major feature films. Little Miss Sunshine, Into the Wild and several scenes from The Savages were filmed all over the state of Arizona. The Arizona Film Office is so welcoming to Hollywood that other kinds of productions make their way here too—including animated productions. The animation scene is thriving in Arizona, so it should come as no surprise that the state is home to an animation society called the Tucson Animation Screening Society (TASS). TASS promotes Japanese animation (anime) for none other than the University of Arizona.