Online school for programming?

May 7, 2009 8:27 PM

My boyfriend is hoping to find a really nice online programming study that results in a Bachelor's degree - his goal is to work on games, but we figure that non-game-based online schools could be just as helpful, and cost-effective. (Learn normal programming, and then just adjust courseload later on to take a couple of game programming classes and take a lot of C++ and usual game languages.) Does anyone have recommendations for such online study programs?

If you'd need more details, definitely ask me! :)

(He's in Montreal right now, but planning on moving in with me - in California - and begin such a program around this time next year. We figured we'd begin looking at options early.)

I'd love any and all suggestions, but if you've taken such an online courseload and have good things to say, that would be great.

posted by Bakuun to education (5 comments total)

You should check out full sail, they've been spamming me for years at this point. Their sites pretty heavy on flash so.. you've been warned.
posted by pwally at 10:17 PM on May 7

Just wanted to weigh in ... do your research before contacting full sail. There is a distinct student that they do work for, but be sure you're that student. Mefi-mail me if you want details on my experience.
posted by frwagon at 10:21 PM on May 7

You'd might be better off doing an advanced mathematics course instead - yes, you need programming skills too, but understanding the vector mathematics/quaternions behind it all will help you immensely when you move to the programming side of things (and understanding of the maths will be rarer than understanding of C++)
posted by BigCalm at 1:24 AM on May 8

Troy University's eCampus. They offer a Bachelor of Science in Applied Computer Science. And they're accredited by SACS. My boss got his BS there, and is about to get an MBA through them as well. I'm planning on starting there next semester. Unfortunately, they don't offer any game programming specific courses. I work in the serious game field, as does my boss, and his glowing review of the program was enough to convince me to try it myself.

As for Full Sail, I'm sitting right next to a Full Sail graduate right now (he attended physical classes though, not online). He's great at what he does, and he enjoyed his time there. His only complaint was the price. He has a rather large student loan to pay off for his time there. Oh, and after checking the site, it doesn't seem that they offer Game Programming as an online degree program.
posted by XcentricOrbit at 7:35 AM on May 8

We have a friend who did his BS in Computer Science online at University of Maryland University College. He really enjoyed it, and did it while already employed as a programmer. It's not specific to gaming, but has the advantage of being from a name brand state school that people will have heard of.
posted by hydropsyche at 11:44 AM on May 8