I am currently getting my business degree at Texas A&M. My degree is in management with an emphasis on entrepreneurial leadership. I want to start my outdoor gear/apparel company but I need graphic design experience to group with my business degree to allow me to bring my ideas to life. I have art experience from high school and am a good artist but have no digital experience. Anyways, I can go to an art institute in Austin or San Antonio but I would rather go to a 4 year university just because I like being on a campus and the experience of a university. Is it possible to get an associates at a 4 year university?
You don’t need another degree, you just need to learn some skills. You can look for classes that will help you develop those skills at a university, community college, and even in an adult/continuing education program. Chances are that classes that will serve you well can be found in the community right where you are.
If what you really want is to keep living on campus and to extend your undergrad living experience for a couple more years, look around for an affordable place to apply to as a senior transfer. Your current degree program should cover any gen eds, and you would probably only need to take classes in the new major. If you stay at your current U, it might be even easier. Ask around. Just know that the only aid you will be eligible for will be unsubsidized student loans. You might be best off to work and take classes part time as you come up with the money for them.
This is what ‘extension’ classes were built for. And if you follow the program through, you can get a certificate and plop that down on your resume. I’ve got a digital art related cert, separate from what I studied in college or grad school or the field I originally worked in… You don’t need an art institute or art college, (though I did mine at the latter,) just a good program. You don’t need an official assoc degree. And yup, I had a student id and access around the campus.
First of all, are you sure YOU need graphic design experience? You might just need to hire a graphic designer - maybe freelance at first until you can afford someone full-time.
You may not even be eligible for unsubsidized federal loans. You have to be enrolled at least half-time in a program tat leads to a degree or certificate awarded by the school. If you are just taking classes as a non-degree student to build skills, you likely can’t get federal loans. If you are taking classes towards a certificate, you’ll probably need to be taking at least 6 credits to be eligible for loans. I bet, though, that if you need only digital experience then you may only need to take 2-3 classes to get there.
Also…I am not sure what year in college you are, but eventually your experience of being on a campus as an undergrad student has to end. At some point, pragmatism makes more sense - you go where the classes will serve your purposes while being inexpensive enough for you to afford. Taking classes on a four-year campus once you’ve graduated and are only doing extension classes feels largely different anyway.