My DD a wants to major in art/graphic design in college. However, she does not want to attend an “Art” school like Pratt, RISD, SVA and instead wants to have a “regular” university experience. Any suggestions or insight?
Our niece attends Long Beach (or rather CSU -Long Beach) and is majoring in art. She loves having a little bit of everything that she can take in coursework. She’s been playing with may be majoring in animation. She loves the campus and the social activities!
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I think one of the first questions is BFA or BA. Some “normal” colleges may have both or only one as an option.
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I think a BA. It’s a little more broad in scope. But I’m not opposed to a BFA
Do you have any more specific preferences? Region, cost, public/private, in-state or out-of-state? selectivity (stats? ECs?), urban/rural? Preference for any specific artistic discipline? And so on? There are so many options that it’s hard to provide useful information without a few guidelines. You can major in art in just about any comprehensive college or university.
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There are a few threads generally on this topic, which may or may not be helpful. Here’s one I started a while ago: Studio/Visual Art at Elite LACs?
Here’s my take, right or wrong.
Art schools: Our reasoning for D24 was that art schools like RISD, SVA, or Pratt were too expensive and limited. And by limited, I mean too focused on art and not enough opportunity for general exploration of other subjects. While my D24 has been serious about art all of high school, she still really enjoys other subjects. My great fear is, for example, having already spent $100k for my kid to go to SVA for two years only for the kid to decide that she’d rather pursue a different career. On the flip side, art schools are great for kids who are 100% want to pursue a career in art and are great at setting up kids with job opportunities straight out of college. Art schools can also be great where a student is pursuing more niche forms of art, like animation, as opposed to general drawing and painting.
Really good college BFA programs: There are a handful of “normal” colleges that seem to offer a very well-regarded art-school level of art instruction. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but schools like CMU, VCU, WashU, BU, Tufts, and Temple (Tyler) all come to mind. Mind you, if your kid is doing a BFA at these schools, they are still going to get a rigorous “foundation” freshman year that is strongly focused on art. Unlike most BA or BS degrees, BFAs are more rigorous and focused and it would be extremely difficult to to double major or get a separate degree in another subject in 4 years. The adage is that a BFA will require 2/3rds art classes; a BA will only require 1/3 art classes. That said, these schools still offer a more mainstream college experience and exploration is easier. And if your kid decides studio art isn’t for them their sophomore year, it probably won’t be too difficult to transfer departments and pursue a degree in, say, communications. And I think such schools have strong career placement.
Very good college BA programs: There are a number of schools that have strong art programs but don’t offer BFAs. Yale and UCLA, which happen to be the two top MFA schools, come to mind. And there are also a number of liberal arts schools that have reputedly strong art programs, like Williams, Skidmore, Smith, Bard, etc. As one might imagine, a BA offers a lot of flexibility to pursue other topics or double-major. But I reckon, if a student were so inclined, they could also take a BFA number of art courses only they still get a BA. (BTW, Skidmore is a little different in that its studio art majors get BS degrees due to the number of courses required.) Anyhow, I think these programs are well regarded and have strong career counseling given the strength of their programs and number of students majoring in art.
Good, but perhaps lesser known BA programs: Such schools may have strong art programs, but they’re less well known and may have fewer students than the schools above. This also translates into fewer classes offered and probably less career counseling. If a kid wants a career in art, they may have to seek a MFA afterward. That said, some of these schools have terrific art facilities and professors. For example, Dartmouth’s art facilities were among the nicest and well-resourced we saw. And I suspect that the smaller pool of dedicated art students means closer bonds with the professors, who probably take a more active role in career counseling advising. Oh, and a lot of schools offer study abroad programs at esteemed foreign art schools, which seems like a good opportunity to try “the art school experience” without the full commitment.
Cost: We found that art schools all offered generous merit aid but paltry financial aid. As for the other colleges listed above, it naturally varies from school to school. We need financial aid, so we’ve strategically applied to schools with great financial aid, which unfortunately tend to be extremely competitive.
Anyhow, D24’s process is still playing out. So I reserve the right to retract all the foregoing advice in four years and recommend that your kid apply exclusively to art schools or air-conditioning-repair programs, whatever the case may be. 
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My D22 was on the Art-Major-But-Not-Art-School train for awhile and looked into a variety of schools for graphic design. She liked U Cincinnati (has both BFA and BSD) and VCUarts, but her favorite was Kansas - she had a portfolio review session with a professor and really liked everything about their program. That would definitely give you a big-school experience with basketball games, Greek life, school spirit etc. in a great college town. Worth a look.
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Thank you so much for your insight. I really appreciate it. Keep us posted and good luck to your daughter.
Shelby, thank you for asking and I will try and fill you in…She has many preferences - LOL. But really at 16 and a junior, she is just at the beginning of her search. She would like to stay on the East Coast, for easy travel (we are in the mid-Atlantic) but isn’t opposed to college with a short direct flight. She doesn’t want to go too far South, and desires the change of seasons. She says she doesn’t want an urban campus, but she doesn’t want to be in the middle of nowhere. I think what she mean is she likes to see grass and trees and have the ability to do things off campus too. She wants to study Graphic Design and become an art director for a magazine, media outlet, brand or an agency. She would like to go to a selective school. She has taken the SAT once and has a 1420. She is studying and hopes to get her next score higher. Her GPA is a 4.2 and she has many EC’s and leadership activities. She also has a great portfolio, but no national art awards, or anything like that yet.
Auburn University ticks all your boxes for graphic design
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Based on what you’ve shared, these are some schools that your D may want to consider:
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American (D.C.): About 7900 undergrads and its campus is green and more suburban in feel, but it’s in D.C., so there are tons of options available if she wants to explore. She will need to show them lots of love.
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Drexel (PA ): About 14k undergrads. I don’t know if there are enough trees here, but there are some very popular/strong programs here in her areas of interest, and the combination with its co-op based system would get her lots of experience, something that is probably particularly valuable for someone in this field.
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Endicott (MA): About 3100 undergrads in a town an easy distance from Boston. Very strong reputation in the arts.
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Northeastern (MA): About 16k undergrads and also has a very popular graphic design major. There’s also a co-op system here which would be beneficial in getting experience. It’s quite selective for students who don’t apply ED/ED2.
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Rochester Institute of Technology (NY): About 14k undergrads here, and though it’s not as well known for its co-ops, I know that RIT was one of the first schools that really implemented them. I know they have them for engineering, but I think for all their majors. RIT also reportedly has a big tech and arts crowd which makes an interesting combination.
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SUNY New Paltz: About 6100 undergrads and a variety of popular arts majors, including graphic design. Plus, you would likely pay no more than whatever your in-state’s flagship rate is as there’s a flagship match for people in the northeastern U.S. I’ve heard it’s a cute town, and it has relatively easy access to NYC.
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U. of Michigan: About 32k undergrads. It has solid arts programming and has the selectivity that your D is seeking.
Minneapolis-area schools:
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Macalester: About 2200 undergrads and in addition to its own offerings, students can take classes at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design (MCAD).
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U. of Minnesota - Twin Cities: About 39k undergrads and strong arts offerings
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Augsburg: About 2400 undergrads and not super selective, but if you plan a visit out here, it might make a nice addition (and safety).
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Thank you! I will suggest these!!!
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