High School Students Interested in Video Game Development Career Should Look to SMU

The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University, the premier digital game development graduate program in the nation, and the Division of Art at SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts and SMU’s School of Engineering have started the first-of-its-kind degree programs in the nation offering a bachelor’s degree in fine arts or computer science and a master’s in interactive technology in digital game development (MIT) within five years. 

Preparing students for fantasy jobs in the real world, The Guildhall at SMU program has a 95 percent placement rate.  In four short years since the program opened its door, 180 of its graduates now work for more than 70 of the world’s leading video game companies.  Combining the foundation of a fine arts undergraduate degree or computer science with the technology, project team management and game theory knowledge encompassed in The Guildhall at SMU graduate program truly prepares students for careers in the gaming industry.

Students who choose the dual degree plan complete their general education and School of Arts or School of Engineering major requirements at the SMU main campus and then move on to the SMU campus in Plano to complete The Guildhall at SMU program.  At the Plano campus, students concurrently finish their undergraduate degrees and start the master’s program.

Gaming has increasingly broad penetration into all forms of cultural expression, and likewise draws more and more from the framework of the arts, physical and social sciences.  Because of the depth of immersion possible within the graduate studies of the Guildhall MIT program, the breadth afforded by the BFA degree and the BS in computer science will give the next generation of game designers unique tools and experiences to bring to the profession as well as the game environment itself.

The BFA/MIT and the BSCS/MIT program forms a unique collaboration between these three disciplines, with exciting implications for the future of art, engineering, and interactive simulations.

Students interested in the program can get more information by contacting the Division of Art at SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts at 214.768.2489 or SMU’s School of Engineering at 214.768.3041.