Full Sail Upgrades to ‘University’ Status

Full Sail Real World Education has been awarded university status by the Florida Department of Education’s Commission for Independent Education (CIEICU) and its national accrediting body, the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (ACCSCT). The school will now be referred to as Full Sail University. University status may be granted to an educational institute in Florida if it provides a range of both undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Full Sail has 13 programs which award associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees. Two tracks -- game development and game art -- are directly related to video game-making, while the rest focus on other areas of digital media. Having the state recognize the school as a proper university is likely to increase its academic reputation. Several years ago (around 2000-2002), the school faced some criticism from the game industry for having extremely high tuition fees and yet uninspired student works. However, in the past two or three years, the quality of both student-made games and graduates has risen. Being awarded university status can only further bolster Full Sail’s reputation. Full Sail’s president Garry Jones stated at a ceremony announcing the news yesterday, “A university title denotes the highest rung. There is a certain amount of prestige and pride that comes with the name,” reported OrlandoSentinel.com. According to university officials, Full Sail has plans to offer new master's-level programs in the near future.