POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (March 23, 2017) – Marist College has earned the #34 ranking on The Princeton Review's just-published list saluting the top 50 undergraduate schools to study game design for 2017.

The Princeton Review (www.PrincetonReview.com) chose the schools based on a survey it conducted in 2016 of 150 institutions offering game design coursework and/or degrees in the United States, Canada, and some countries abroad.

The company's 40-question survey asked schools to report on everything from their academic offerings and faculty credentials to their graduates’ starting salaries and employment experience. Among criteria The Princeton Review weighed to make its selections: the school's academics, facilities, career services, and technology.

"Marist's game design program provides students innovative and thoughtful training that prepares our students for this billion dollar industry," said Lyn Lepre, Dean of School of Communication and the Arts, where the program is housed jointly with the School of Computer Science & Mathematics. "What makes Marist's program truly stand out in the crowd is that our faculty truly love games and gaming, and this attitude is expressed in their teaching. The co-curricular PlayLab is also a stand-out feature, providing students with a space to play, develop, design and learn alongside peers and faculty." 

 For more information on Marist's Games and Emerging Media programs, click here
For more information on Marist's Summer Game Design Institute, click here 

The Princeton Review's full report on this project at www.princetonreview.com/game-design includes profiles of the schools with application information and links to the school sites.   

For the fifth consecutive year, The Princeton Review teamed up with PC Gamer, a monthly magazine published by Future plc (www.futureplc.com) as its reporting partner on this project. PC Gamer has a feature on the list in its May issue available on newsstands March 28. The feature has information on some of the schools' unique programs, class offerings, prominent professors, and alumni.

The Princeton Review developed its “Top Schools To Study Game Design" project in 2009 with assistance from a national advisory board that helped design the survey instrument and methodology. Board members included administrators and faculty from respected game design programs, and professionals from some of the top gaming companies.  

The Princeton Review is also known for its annual rankings of colleges in dozens of categories, which it reports on its site, and in its books including The Best 381 Colleges, and Colleges That Create Futures, both of which feature Marist. The company is not affiliated with Princeton University.