Colleges that start their own programs in video-game design may risk being accused of trend-hopping. But according to a growing number of campus officials, gaming courses aren’t just hip gimmicks: They’re essential vocational training for students.
Institutions like Shawnee State University — located in Portsmouth, a city in Appalachian Ohio — are counting on their fledgling game-design programs to give local students a chance at high-paying jobs. Around Portsmouth, only about 30 percent of high-school graduates go on to college. But campus officials think they can get that number to rise by offering classes that democratize the field of computer science.
"The steel mill’s gone, and it’s not coming back," said one Shawnee State professor to the Associated Press. "I think the only future we have is something like this." (Associated Press)
