Game Degree

Westwood College Online could be your next ticket to earning a video game design degree!

Here are a few facts about Westwood Online:

• Westwood Online was featured in the Top 10 online colleges according to the Online Education Database!
• Offers 17 degree programs entirely online
• Headquartered in Denver, Colorado with over 4,000 students enrolled online
• Accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT)

Westwood Online offers degrees in the following fields:

• Animation
• Game Software Development
• Game Art and Design
• Graphic Design & Multimedia
• Web Design & Multimedia
• Visual Communications
• Software Engineering

About Westwood Online Degrees

Keep in mind that Westwood Online is also  interested in your ideas for programs to be offered online, which is very unusual for colleges and universities nowadays. Westwood Online really seems to take students feedback into consideration in the development of their online programs.

Since my primary focus is Game Design & Development these days, let’s take a look at these two game degree programs.

Westwood Online Game Art and Game Design Degree

Earning a Bachelor of Science in Game Art and Design from Westwood Online will help you learn about art and animation techniques to work in the gaming software field. It includes courses in 3-D modeling and animation, Cinematography, and Color Theory. This program also provides management and general education courses.  This program is definitely for the creative student who likes to develop story lines, characters, and storyboards.

Westwood Online Game Software Development Degree

If you care more for the actual design of a game, you may want to consider earning a Bachelor of Science in Game software. Work behind the scenes in the actual programming and development of the game itself versus the creation of the characters.  This program includes developing software testing procedures, designing software systems, and creating applications to bring characters to life. This is more of the technical aspect of game design, and is constantly presenting challenges and new ways of creating games.

Westwood Online Tuition

In terms of tuition and the investment into your education and career, Westwood Online does seem competitive with many online schools out there.  The school breaks down each degree by “term”. The Game Design degree is a 193 credit degree, divided into 15 terms at $4,149 per term.  The Game Software development degree is 193.5 credits also at 15 terms at $4,149 per term. Of course, there are the additional fees as with most colleges (application, technology, enrollment, etc.), but the school does offer financial aid and will help guide you through any loan or grant process you may require.

Overall, Westwood College Online offers a very thorough program to enter the gaming industry, whether you wish to be creative in character design or engineer the software used to make those characters come to life.