When it comes to great places to study graphic design, the Department of Communication and Media in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences program keeps hitting the mark. The program is No. 30 on the Animation Career Review list of top graphic design programs in the United States. Rensselaer came in at No. 19 out of 25 programs on the list for private schools and colleges.
The Department of Communication and Media is an internationally recognized center for interdisciplinary education and research, according to Mary Simoni, dean of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. “In addition to graphic design, our graduate programs prepare students to understand traditional and emerging communications technologies from a variety of perspectives, including rhetorical studies, media studies, human-computer interaction, game studies, technical communication, professional and creative writing, and cross-cultural communication. Students learn to use words and images to communicate powerfully with a critical understanding of how media operate across global structures.”
Simoni noted that doctoral students from the department attain tenure-track and post-doctoral positions at top-ranked institutions worldwide. In addition, bachelor’s and master’s students go on to enjoy careers in industry and government as game developers, content developers and editors, interaction designers, user experience designers, art directors, graphic designers, marketing strategists,information architects, marketing and public relations specialists, brand managers, product designers, and web designers, analysts, and developers.
Animation Career Review started publishing regional and national rankings in 2012 in response to myriad emails from aspiring animators and game designers asking what the best schools were in the U.S., a given state, or in a particular area of the country. Criteria include academic reputation, admission selectivity, depth and breadth of the program and faculty, value as it relates to tuition and indebtedness, and geographic location. In preparing the latest rankings, the organization considered hundreds of schools in the United States that offer programs geared toward graphic design.
In 2015, Rensselaer came in at No. 8 on the Animation Career Review list of top game design programs in the United States. Rensselaer also came in at No. 4 out of 25 programs offered among East Coast colleges and universities, and the Institute was recognized as No. 7 on the list for private schools and colleges
In addition, Animation Career Review also recognized the Games and Simulations Arts and Sciences (GSAS) program at Rensselaer in its animation rankings list. The program came in at No. 32, and was also ranked as No. 9 on the list among East Coast colleges and universities. Among private colleges, the program came in at No. 25.