Best Art Colleges in the United States
The United States contains many art colleges where students who have a passion for artistic expression can receive degrees. However, it may be difficult to figure out exactly what art schools are considered to be a notch above the rest.
Rhode Island School of Design specializes in fine arts and design and is located in Rhode Island’s capital, Providence. The school’s campus is contiguous with that of Brown University, sharing social and academic resources as well as classes. The school even has its own museum which houses over 80,000 works of art. Rhode Island School of Design is very prestigious and is considered by many to be the finest of all the art colleges in America.
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago has a fantastic reputation and is one of the largest accredited independent schools of art and design in all of America. It is located in downtown Chicago, Illinois, and offers both undergraduate and graduate level degrees. The classes offered are in anything from art history to visual communication.
The Yale School of Art is a branch of Yale University and is a professional art school. Because of this, the school grants only Masters of Fine Arts degrees. Students’ studies can be completed to earn a Masters degree in any of four fields: graphic design, photography, sculpture or painting/printmaking. Any student applying to become a student of the school must have a good undergraduate record and a completed body of work to present.
Maryland Institute College of Art is located in Baltimore, Maryland and is one of the oldest art colleges in the United States. According to U.S. News and World Report, Maryland Institute College of Art was the second best fine arts program in the Unites States and its Graphic Design Master of Fine Arts program was ranked as one of the best graduate schools to learn about Graphic Design.
The California Institute of the Arts is located in Valencia, California, and was the first school of higher learning that granted degrees and was made for students that were interested in both the visual as well as performing arts in the United States. The school is also known as CalArts and was created and founded by Walt Disney. The California Institute of the Arts is unique in that the students do their work in a workshop-like setting that is more easy-going than other schools of art.
Art Center College of Design is located in Pasadena, California, and is a private college. The schools offer a wide array of programs that are both graduate and undergraduate. Art Center College of Design also offers public programs for both children as well as students in high school. The college has two campuses and was noted by BusinessWeek as one of the best design schools in the entire world.