For the second consecutive year, the ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½βs video game graduate school ranks No. 2 in North America, according to The Princeton Review and PC Gamer magazine.
This is the fifth time that The Princeton Review has ranked graduate-level video game development schools, placing ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½βs Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy β or FIEA β behind only the University of Utah for 2015. The school has been ranked in the top five every year since the rankings began.
βWith our 10-year anniversary approaching, itβs great to see the Princeton Review continue to recognize the outstanding work of our faculty, staff and students,β said executive director Ben Noel. βWeβre proud to be part of Central Floridaβs growing digital economy.β
Since opening its doors in 2005, FIEA has graduated 412 alumni working at more than 125 companies around the world, including Google, Electronic Arts, Blizzard, Bungie, Zynga, Ubisoft, Disney, Microsoft, Bethesda, n-Space and Industrial Light & Magic.
βFIEAβs exceptional faculty members, first-class facilities and close connections with the gaming industryβs top companies have propelled the school to one of the very best of its kind in the country in less than 10 years,β said ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ Provost and Vice President A. Dale Whittaker. βThis is a testament to ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½βs success with location-based education and valuable partnerships β our students thrive in the classroom and in the job market when they learn in an environment so closely immersed in their industry.β
The average starting salary for recent FIEA graduates is $60,359 and they are working on some of todayβs most popular projects. Those games include NBA Live 15, Diablo III, Sunset Overdrive, Skyrim, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, Star Wars 1313, Borderlands 2, Battlefield 4, The Walking Dead, Gears of War 3, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, Bioshock Infinite, Transformers 3 and Dead Space 3.
The school is located at ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½βs Center For Emerging Media building, located in downtown Orlando near ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½βs future downtown campus. FIEA is designed to graduate talented and well-qualified professionals to work in video games, new media, film and simulation industries.
The chose the schools based on a survey it conducted in 2014-15 of 150 institutions offering game design coursework and/or degrees in the United States, Canada, and some countries abroad.
In addition to being published today on The Princeton Review website, the listing will also be featured in the May issue of PC Gamer magazine, on newsstands March 3.
Visit to see the full rankings.