For the 12th consecutive year, The Princeton Review has ranked DigiPen Institute of Technology as one of the top 5 schools for the study of game design. The college admission services company ranked DigiPen No. 5 on its list of the top 50 undergraduate schools and No. 9 on the list of the 25 top graduate schools.
The rankings were based on a 2020 survey given to 150 higher education institutions in the U.S., Canada, and abroad offering game design courses or degree programs. The survey collected data on a range of topics, including game design curriculum, faculty, facilities, and graduate success.
“We highly recommend DigiPen Institute of Technology and every one of the schools that made our Top Schools for Game Design lists for 2021,” said Rob Franek, editor-in-chief for The Princeton Review. “Their faculties are superlative. Their facilities are state-of-the-art. Their alumni include many of the video game industry’s most prominent artists, designers, developers, and entrepreneurs.”
In 1998, DigiPen became the first college in the world to offer a four-year degree in game development, with the introduction of the BS in Computer Science in Real-Time Interactive Simulation. Today, almost 25 years later, DigiPen graduates have contributed to more than 1,600 commercial games as programmers, artists, designers, and more. That includes several critically acclaimed titles and game franchises, such as Ghost of Tsushima, The Last of Us Part II, Dynasty Warriors, League of Legends, and the Assassin’s Creed series.
DigiPen’s programs equip students for game industry careers through a combination of foundational academic coursework and project-based learning. Each year, students from multiple disciplines work together on self-organized teams to design and develop original video game projects from start to finish.
“DigiPen (Singapore)’s extensive education has not only provided me with the knowledge to work in many different facets of game development, but has also given me the necessary foundation and confidence to dive into unfamiliar topics,” says DigiPen (Singapore) graduate Kenny Chong, who is currently working on the aforementioned League of Legends at Riot Games. “The game projects have allowed my team and I to explore and push our own limits in communication, technical capabilities, and creative thinking. This has helped me tremendously in Riot Games as I was able to bring the experience of being in a multidisciplinary project into the work environment.”
For more information, you can view the full report and rankings on The Princeton Review website.