FAIRFIELD, Conn.—The Princeton Review has ranked Sacred Heart University among the top 50 undergraduate and top 25 graduate schools that offer game design.
The Princeton Review chose the schools based on a survey it conducted in 2016 of 150 institutions offering game design courses and/or degrees in the United States, Canada and some countries abroad. Sacred Heart’s graduate game design program ranked 18 and its undergraduate program ranked 40 on the review’s published lists for 2017.
Sacred Heart responded to the company’s 40-question survey, with information about academic offerings, faculty credentials and graduates’ starting salaries and employment experience. Other criteria Princeton Review weighed when making its selections included the school’s academics, facilities, career service and technology. The Princeton Review’s full report can be viewed at www.princetonreview.com/game-design along with profiles of the selected schools, application information and links to their websites.
“I think our ranking is directly reflective of the terrific support our game development program receives from the University and from the director of Sacred Heart’s School of Computing, Domenick Pinto,” said Robert McCloud, associate professor of computer science. “Professor Pinto encourages our efforts to build a program based on the twin pillars of strong computer science education and practical, hands-on experience in developing both 3D and 2D games. Our motion-capture lab continues to provide daily student research opportunities. We also collaborated with the School of Communications & Media Arts to introduce a virtual-reality experience into our lab. In addition, this year our gaming students have won seven awards in juried game development competitions.”
McCloud added that students in the undergraduate and graduate programs benefit from many solid, skilled professors. These include Professors Efim Kinber, Frances Grodzinsky, Frank Sardo, Ardiana Sula and Mike DelViscovo. “Together we work to expose students to the varied aspects of ethical game development,” McCloud said.
Pinto noted that the School of Computing is also grateful for McCloud’s dedication to the program.
The Princeton Review’s mission is to provide information and insights to help students find and get into the colleges and universities that are best for them, according to Robert Franek, its editor-in-chief. “For students aspiring to work in the burgeoning field of game design, we strongly recommend Sacred Heart University and each of the other schools that made our 2017 lists. These are truly the ‘cream of the crop’ institutions from which to launch a career. Their faculties are outstanding, their facilities are awesome and their alumni include legions of the industry’s most prominent game designers, developers, artists and entrepreneurs,” Franek said.
PHOTO CAPTION: Sacred Heart University Professor Robert McCloud works with students in the motion capture lab at the Martire Business & Communications Center. Photo by Tracy Deer-Mirek
About Sacred Heart University
Sacred Heart University, the second-largest independent Catholic university in New England, offers more than 70 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and certificate programs on its main campus in Fairfield, Conn., and satellites in Connecticut, Luxembourg and Ireland. More than 8,500 students attend the University’s five colleges: Arts & Sciences; Health Professions; Nursing; the Jack Welch College of Business; and the Isabelle Farrington College of Education. The Princeton Review includes SHU in its guides Best 381 Colleges–2017 Edition, “Best in the Northeast” and Best 294 Business Schools–2017 Edition. U.S.News & World Report ranks SHU among the best master’s universities in the North in its “Best Colleges 2017” publication. The Chronicle of Higher Education also names SHU one of the fastest-growing Roman Catholic universities in its 2016 almanac. Sacred Heart fields 32 Division I athletic teams and has an award-winning program of community service. www.sacredheart.edu