 | |
| Motto | If you're serious about your dream, we'll take your dream seriously |
|---|---|
| Type | Private for-profit university[1] |
| Established | 1979 |
| Accreditation | ACCSC |
| President | Garry Jones |
| Undergraduates | 19,171[2][3][2][3] |
| Location | , , United States 28°35′41″N 81°18′11″W / 28.59472°N 81.30306°W |
| Mascot | Douglas DC-3 airplane |
| Website | fullsail |
 | |
Full Sail, LLC, doing business as Full Sail University,[4] is a private for-profit university in Winter Park, Florida.[5] It was formerly a recording studio in Ohio named Full Sail Productions[6] and Full Sail Center for the Recording Arts.[7] The school moved to Florida in 1980[8] and began offering online degrees in 2007.[9]
Full Sail is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges to award associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees in audio, design, computer animation and business.[10][11] In November 2018, it had approximately 8,921 students at its Winter Park Campus,[2] as well as 10,250 students enrolled in online courses.[3]
Full Sail University was founded by Jon Phelps in Dayton, Ohio, in 1979.[12] Its curriculum was centered on recording arts and offered courses in audio engineering.[13] It relocated to Orlando, Florida, in 1980 and added new courses to its core recording arts program. In 1989, Full Sail moved to its current location at Winter Park, Florida;[13] the following year, it was accredited to grant specialized associate degrees.[14]
Enrollment doubled between 1989 and 1991 at a time of increased interest in film and media studies.[15] The university had financial difficulties in 1992 and its growth slowed.[16] Between 1995 and 1999, it began offering associate degrees in computer animation, digital media, game design and development, and show production and touring; these were later expanded into full bachelor's degree programs.[14]
In 2005, the school offered its first bachelor's degree program, a Bachelor of Science degree in entertainment business.[17] In 2007, the first master's degree program—also in the entertainment industry—was offered.[18] Online degree programs began in 2007, the first of which was an online adaptation of the existing Entertainment Business Master of Science.[18]
The additions of the master's degree programs, among other factors, led to the school being recognized as a university by the state of Florida.[19] In 2008 it changed its name from Full Sail Real World Education to Full Sail University after attaining university status from the Florida Department of Education's Commission for Independent Education.[19]
The curriculum and degree programs were broadened between 2006 and 2011,[20] adding programs such as a Bachelor of Science in sports marketing and media,[21] and a Master of Science degree in game design.[22]
In 2012, WWE began filming episodes of its internet television show WWE NXT at Full Sail University.[23][24][25] In June 2015, the school began hosting the WWE Tough Enough series.[26][27][28] As part of the partnership between Full Sail and WWE, students have the opportunity to produce WWE NXT tapings, during which merchandise and tickets sales contribute to a scholarship fund for students enrolled at the university.[29][30] As of January 2018, the partnership had resulted in $385,000 in scholarships.[31][32][33] In September 2019, WWE and Full Sail University announced the expansion of their partnership. In 2020, it was announced that WWE NXT would stop taping at Full Sail University.[34]
In 2015, the university announced a partnership with Wargaming and completed building a user experience lab for conducting research projects.[35][36][37]
Full Sail University's Dan Patrick School of Sportscasting was established in 2017, with a sportscasting degree program and instruction provided by sportscaster and radio personality Dan Patrick.[38][39][40]
The university moved to Winter Park in 1989.[41] Full Sail University's approximately 200-acre (81-hectare) campus is located 8.6 miles (13.8 kilometers) northeast of downtown Orlando. The campus has soundstages, a film backlot, and 110 studios.[42] An office building for teaching staff for the online degree program was leased in 2009.[43]
In 2010, a new game studio was named "Blackmoor" (after a campaign in Dungeons & Dragons) in honor of Dave Arneson, who taught game design at the school from 1999 to 2008.[44] In November 2010, in partnership with ESPN, the school opened a new laboratory for research and development in studio technologies.[45] Two months later, approximately 200 Full Sail Online employees moved into the Gateway Center in Downtown Orlando.[46] Also in 2011, the university announced plans to construct an 86,000-square-foot (8,000 m2) educational building to house 475 faculty and staff, additional film and television soundstages and classrooms; it was scheduled for completion in early 2012.[47] In July 2011, Full Sail acquired Lakeview Office Park in Orlando.[48]
In October 2018, Full Sail announced plans to construct an esports arena called "The Fortress".[49] The 11,200-square-foot venue opened in May 2019, serves as home of Full Sail University's esports team, Armada.[50][51][52]
In 2020, The Fortress was named a top-10 collegiate esports facility.[53] It was also named one of the "15 Most Elite Universities for Pursuing Esports Careers in North America" in 2020.[54][55] The Virtual Production Studio opened on the main campus in March 2022.[56][57]
Full Sail's academic degree programs are primarily focused on audio, film and media production,[58] video game design,[59] animation[60] and other studies related to the media and entertainment industries.[61] Full Sail began offering coursework in creating augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) projects in 2016, housed in the campus's Fabrication Lab.[62][63][64][65]
Full Sail is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC).[10][66] In 2007 and 2011, the college was subject to criticism regarding limited transferability of credits.[67][68][69]
According to the College Scorecard, Full Sail has a 39 percent graduation rate. The median annual cost of attending is $28,559. The median salary after attending was $43,332.[70]
In 1989, 1990, and 1991, the Full Sail Center for the Recording Arts won Mix magazine's outstanding institutional achievement award for recording schools.[71]
In 2005, Rolling Stone called Full Sail "one of the five best music programs in the country".[72]
The college was named FAPSC School/College of the Year (an award for which only career colleges in Florida were eligible) by the Florida Association of Postsecondary Schools and Colleges (FAPSC) in 2008, 2011,[73] and 2014.[74] Full Sail was recognized for its 21st-century best practices in distance learning by the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) in 2011,[75] and was the recipient of New Media Consortium Center for Excellence Award in 2011 and 2015.[76][77]
Full Sail's Game Design master's degree has been ranked in The Princeton Review's Top 25 Graduate Program for Video Game Design since 2014.[78][79][80] Full Sail also ranked in the top 50 in The Princeton Review's list of undergraduate programs for game design in 2021.[81][82] TheWrap ranked Full Sail last place in their 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 lists of the "Top 50 Film Schools".[83][84][85] In 2018, College Magazine ranked Full Sail number five in their list of the top 10 colleges for video game design.[86] In January 2020, Animation Career Review ranked Full Sail University number 19 in their list of Top 50 Animation Schools in the US.[87]
Instructors at Full Sail have included Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Dave Arneson, who taught game design,[138] and Stedman Graham.[139][140] Other notable instructors include James Neihouse, cinematographer and lifetime member of the Academy, a 6,000-member group that votes on Oscar nominees. Former wrestler Ed Ferrera teaches the creative writing program.[141][142]
