Online Game Design Degrees: How to Get Into the Game

Posted by Dan on June 4th, 2009

Let me start by asking a question.  What current entertainment industry is poised to grow to a 65 billion dollar business by 2012?  If you said, “movies”, you would be wrong.  It is not digital music downloads either.  It’s video games.   Video games have come a long way since PONG, introduced the world to digital entertainment.  Video games are big business all around the world.  Led by the ultra successful, Nintendo Wii, video games now serve as the leading source of home entertainment for more than 50 million people worldwide.  

In the troubling economic environment, video games have continued to grow in revenue despite some games costing more than $70!   As the industry continues to grow, game development companies will look to grow their employee base.  Earning your online game design degree from an accredited college today can lead to a very rewarding and lucrative career in the near future for this industry.  Named by Yahoo!, as one of the fastest and most secure jobs in America, game design, is becoming one of the hottest college degrees across the US.  Cracking into the game industry is often the most difficult step in this career process.  Many of today’s top game designers will admit to starting on the bottom as a game tester.  We feel this is a tremendous first step into understanding if a career in video games suits you.  Working in the game industry demands time and dedication from all of its members.  Often work weeks will exceed 60 hours and weekend hours are typically mandatory near the final stages of game development.  Due to the demanding schedule, continuing your education at a traditional college setting would be almost impossible.  Earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Game Design from Westwood College Online while continuing to work as a game tester or intern, is a fantastic opportunity to achieve the education requirements necessary for landing a position in game design.   The flexiblity of an online game design degree allows students to attend classroom lectures, read assignments, and complete college projects at their own pace.  An online degree program is a perfect compliment to a working adult’s hectic schedule.

While working in the game industry can be intimidating due to its erratic schedule and demanding nature, the rewards are well worth the sacrifices.  Game designers salary often start at $70,000, which is almost $15,000 more than the average bachelor’s degree starting salary nationwide.  Talented and motivated game designers can establish a respected name for themselves within a company and the gaming audience.  When this occurs, salary’s easily pass into the 6 digit range.  Game designers also benefit from the commercial success of their products.  Video game companies often provide incentive bonuses to all members of the team based on the number of copies a game sells and how well it is received by the gaming public.

By enrolling in an online game design program, students prepare themselves for a growing career field that shows no signs of slowing down.  If you are creative, motivated, talented, and dedicated, a career in game design may provide a lifetime of career and creative successes.

Hunting for the perfect online degree

Posted by Jen Zeman on December 22nd, 2008

When I started my search for an online degree program, I requested information from about three different schools, all within my home state of Maryland. I wanted to start my search local before considering out-of-state institutions, primarily because I knew in-state colleges and universities would accept more transfer credits and in-state tuition would be less expensive. The information I received included full admissions packets and I did find the information helpful since it helped me determine if the school offered online degree programs AND in the discipline I wanted to study (i.e. legal studies). As I have mentioned before, I was fortunate to find the University of Maryland University College (UMUC) offered an online legal studies bachelor’s degree.

I am very satisfied still to this day with the quality of education and the online experience with UMUC, so I do not have any regrets in not requesting information from additional schools for my bachelor’s degree. When I started a search for master’s degrees online, I broadened my search to include more out-of-state institutions and requested information from about three schools. I did this because I found most colleges and universities offer online graduate degrees mainly in business or education fields; I was looking for a liberal arts graduate degree. I found a few schools that offered an online graduate liberal arts degree and found a good program at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. The best advice is to know what you want to study and keep searching. A larger variety of online programs become available each year, so you are bound to find what you are looking for. Requesting information is not a commitment to any particular school, so gather as much information as possible and then develop a pros and cons list for each. This will help you narrow your search to the eventual ideal institution. Happy hunting!

Show me the money!

Posted by Jennifer Buchholz on December 9th, 2008

When I decided to return to school, I knew that I would have to go into more debt to do it. I looked for a school that was reasonable in terms of cost, but that was still about $1000 a month for school. That was money I didn’t have, so student loans were again necessary.

I had worked while going to school for my bachelor’s degree, but wound up taking student loans to supplement my lifestyle. I think the same thing happened with my master’s degree. While my employer paid 75% of the cost, I still took some student loans. I hadn’t planned to pursue my PhD at that time, so I thought I would just pay off the balance as I progressed in the workplace.

The limits for the federal student loans do go up as the type of the degree increases. So I knew the limit for Stafford Loans was about $140,000. I am pretty close to that limit at this point. Now that I’m nearly at the end of my degree program, my cost is reduced to approximately $1000 per quarter and I pay that out of pocket.

I know I should have looked for scholarships, but there just wasn’t time. Also, there didn’t seem to be as many scholarships targeted toward my demographic, field of study, or degree level. I also didn’t think my school provided many resources for financing - they basically presented the bill and expected the student to figure it out.

Knowing what I know now, I do wish I had been more fiscally responsible and minimized my loans (and my lifestyle). I am now still in deferment, but make small payments each month to help bring this balance in line before I graduate.

A Hectic Lifestyle Inspires an Online Education

Posted by Jeff Davis on November 17th, 2008

Although it would be short and sweet if I were able to narrow it down to only one specific inspiration answer, I simply cannot do it since there were so many different factors that played an important role as to why I considered an online education. Don’t get me wrong, I have attended a “traditional” school (in the sense of the word) and came away with an Associate’s degree. However, I was not able to complete my Bachelor’s degree until years later when I attended online. My biggest problem with the traditional school was that with that type of learning environment, it simply would not fit into my schedule the way I really needed it to.

When I finally came to the realization that I needed to further my education in order to provide more career opportunities, I had decided to opt for a learning environment that would better fit my hectic lifestyle. This is where an online education really seemed to be the most ideal to me.

First of all, I liked the fact that while pursuing an online education, I would still be able to hold my regular job since so many of the online universities allowed for extreme flexibility in their class scheduling. I did not want education to interfere with my family life, so this type of learning environment really fit into my life schedule almost perfectly.

Next, I liked the fact that you could start almost immediately when considering an online education. During my research, I discovered that many online universities have rolling admissions and some even had classes starting every 4 weeks.

However, I would have to say that the biggest inspiration for deciding to pursue an online education overall was one of convenience. Since you don’t have to leave your home, there are no travel expenses and since you set your own schedule, you don’t ever have to worry about being late for class.

College Degrees That Pay You Back!!!

Posted by Dan on September 25th, 2008

The cost of higher education has skyrocketed in the last 10 years.   More and more students are finding themselves entering college and leaving with almost unmanageable debt.  In a society that dictates that going to college is a guaranteed part of life, many students have started to question the worth of a college degree.

In a new report published by PayScale.com, a leading salary comparison website, they list the top Undergraduate Degree Programs that end up paying the student back throughout their career.  The top of the list is heavily populated by Engineering Degree Programs and Mathematics.  However, some career education degrees that might help pay the bills include, Healthcare, Philosophy, and International Relations.  We have included the graph and complete degree listing below