The School of Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication has been recognized by The Princeton Review for its game design programs. UT Dallas has made the Princeton top 25 list every year since 2010.
The University of Texas at Dallas has been included in The Princeton Review’s latest assessment of "Top Schools for Game Design," with the Arts and Technology (ATEC) graduate program making the top 10.
Based on a survey of administrators at 150 institutions in the United States, Canada and abroad offering game design degree programs or courses, the ranking puts UT Dallas’ graduate program in the ninth spot and its undergraduate program at 11th on the list.
“For students aspiring to work in game design, the 58 schools that made one or both of our 2016 lists offer extraordinary opportunities to learn and to hone one’s talents for a successful career in this burgeoning field,” Robert Franek, senior vice president and publisher of The Princeton Review, said in a news release.
“The faculties at these schools are outstanding. Their facilities are awesome. And their alumni include legions of the industry’s most prominent game designers, developers, artists and entrepreneurs.”
The Princeton Review started ranking video game design programs in 2010 after recognizing a surge in the amount of options available, and UT Dallas has since ranked in the top 25 every year.
“ATEC’s strength in gaming is its interdisciplinary nature,” said associate professor Dr. Monica Evans MA'04, PhD'07 who helped establish ATEC’s Game Production Lab.
“We specialize in things that don’t quite exist yet. There's a great deal of untapped potential in games as an expressive medium, which we explore through collaboration with our colleagues in education, science, technology, business and the arts," Evans said. "ATEC is an outstanding place to pursue impactful, groundbreaking work in games, and I’m extremely proud of our school, our students and our faculty in game development and game studies.”
The ATEC program began in 2004 under the auspices of the School of Arts and Humanities, and it quickly grew into one of UT Dallas’ most popular programs. It moved into a new home with the creation of the Edith O’Donnell Arts and Technology Building and was established as an independent school with the Emerging Media and Communication (EMAC) program in 2015.