Animation Career Review has ranked DePaul’s animation program as the 12th best in the nation, jumping up one spot from last year.  

“It’s an honor to have our program recognized among these long-established, top-tier schools,” Scott Roberts, chair of DePaul’s Animation Program, said. “This achievement is a testament to the hard work and success of our alumni, students and faculty.”

The university is also expanding access to animation education for young people across Chicago. For nearly two decades DePaul’s Game, Cinema, and Animation Summer Academy has offered different classes such as and 3D animation for high school students from around the country. Students are taught by full-time faculty, including Animator in Residence and Disney veteran Brian Ferguson.

This year the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) and DePaul’s Jarvis College of Computing and Digital Media have partnered to add an animation track to a CHA summer program. Participants ages 15 to 24 will study filmmaking, screenwriting, photography, and animation, learn from faculty, receive mentorship from graduate students, meet industry professionals, and explore Chicago’s arts scene through field trips. Applications for student mentors will open soon.

DePaul continues to innovate through its academic degrees. The Computer Science + Animation Bachelor of Science degree prepares students for technical and artistic careers in animation and game development, combining computer science fundamentals with 3D animation training. Students collaborate on team-based projects in storyboarding, character design, game art and programming. DePaul is also recognized as an Unreal Academic Partner, which recognizes exemplary universities that integrate Epic Games’ Unreal Engine into their classes and labs, underscoring its commitment to cutting-edge tools and interdisciplinary learning.

Learn more about DePaul’s animation program online.