UT Austin is heavy into the theory, but if you're not a self-starter learning practical programming skills on the side, through internships and side projects (t

UT Austin is heavy into the theory, but if you're not a self-starter learning practical programming skills on the side, through internships and side projects (there are places in town that won't hire you straight out of UT without side projects or internships because you don't have any practical skills), there are two new programs that make UT Austin especially valuable. First is the Longhorn Startup program, which is a joint program between Engineering, Business and Natural Sciences, which gives you credit for launching a startup. You get mentors, lean startup coursework, help, support, office space, etc., and it's run by Bob Metcalfe (of ethernet fame) and Josh Baer (of the Capital Factory incubator). (I was a design mentor Fall 2012 semester and will likely be a mentor again in the future.) http://www.1semesterstartup.com http://www.1semesterstartup.com Second is the new Gaming Academy, which just started, led by Warren Spector and Paul Sams: http://www.utexas.edu/news/2013/05/14/university-of-texas-at-austin-partners-with-video-game-executives-to-create-denius-sams-gaming-academy/ http://www.utexas.edu/news/2013/05/14/university-of-texas-at... You have to have a Bachelor's already, but it's an interesting program, and it complements UT's existing game development program, which is joint between CS and RTF: http://gamedev.utexas.edu http://gamedev.utexas.edu