Top 25 Illustration Programs - Private Colleges - 2019 Rankings

Established in 1931, Ringling College of Art and Design (RCAD) opened with just 75 students and 111 course offerings. Today, the school serves 1,400 students enrolled in BFA degree programs in eleven disciplines and BA degrees in two. Just a few majors include Computer Animation, Film, Game Art, Motion Design, Visual Studies, and Illustration.

Offered through the Illustration Department, the Illustration BFA covers the fundamentals of color theory, composition, anatomy, and digital and traditional media. The school says that “working in 2D and 3D, Illustration students are introduced to and familiarized with professional industry techniques through exercises, demonstrations, guest speakers, critiques, collaborative projects, internships, recruiter workshops, and interactions with real clients in the area.” Sample courses for the program include Computer Illustration, Design and Topography, Figure Drawing, Film and Narrative, Illustration Media, and 3D Design for CA & IL.

Other program highlights include the opportunity to enter a semester-long exchange program or a four-five week summer program at Studio Arts Center International (SACI), located in Florence, Italy, internship opportunities at major companies such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Blue Sky Studios, Disney, Hasbro, and Pixar, and participation in The Annual Illustration show, Illest of the Ill—a department juried exhibition curated and coordinated entirely by students.

Students in the program also have access to two Cintiq labs solely for Illustration, access to three 24-hour Cintiq labs, painting and drawing studios, and a laptop for every student, fully equipped with the latest Adobe Creative Suite software.

Ringling College students have won more wards in the 40-year history of the Society of Illustrators than any other college, and comprise the highest number of accepted entries into the Society’s annual Student Scholarship Competition. Graduates leave the program with a “comprehensive, cohesive portfolio” that showcases their work and they will be prepared for illustration positions in a range of industries.

Graduates have been hired by American Greetings, Apple, Blue Sky Studios, Cartoon Network, Disney, EA Games, GM, Google, Hallmark, Marvel Comics/Lucasfilm, Riot Games, United Airlines, Walt Disney, Zynga, and many others.

ArtCenter College of Design is home to approximately 2,100 students enrolled in 11 undergraduate and seven graduate degree programs in Industrial Design, Visual, and Applied Arts Disciplines. Founded in 1930, the school, which also offers a joint MS/MBA program with the Drucker-Ito School of Management, has two campuses in Pasadena and satellite studios in Los Angeles (at the Peterson Automotive Museum), and Berlin. Programs for aspiring illustrators include a BFA in Illustration. An Interdisciplinary MFA is also available.

Students in the program choose from five main areas of specialization including Illustration Design, Illustration/Fine Art, Entertainment Arts, Motion Design and Surface Design. A Designmatters Minor is also available. The curriculum moves from foundations skills such as figure drawing, painting and perspective and to the students chosen specialization or minor. Per the school, “the curriculum encompasses a wide range of core studies and collaborations with other disciplines that equips students with strong practical skills, as well as substantial business knowledge.”

Sample courses for the program include Advanced Portraiture, Designing Social Enterprise, Digital Illustration, Experimental Collection Strategies for Surface Design, Illustrative Storytelling, Op Ed Illustration, 3D Motion Graphics, Sequential Design and Visual Development. Graduates of the program have been hired at ArtCenter industry partners such as Apple, Blizzard, DreamWorks, Google, Mattel, Walt Disney and many others.

Notable Illustration alumni include Rockstar Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park; Mark “Crash” McCreery Creature Designer/Concept Designer for Batman Returns, Jurassic Park, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl; Drew Struzan, Movie Poster Illustrator for Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, the Muppets, Star Wars and others; and Phil Hettema, Experiential Designer for The Amazing Adventures of Spider Man, Jurassic Park: The Ride, and Hello Kitty Park.

Founded in 1978, Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) serves around 13,000 students from nearly 50 states and 115 countries. The school, which has campuses in Savannah, Atlanta, Hong Kong, and Lacoste, France, offers more than 40 majors and over 70 minors and certificate programs, including Illustration.

Offered through the School of Communication Arts, four degree options are available for aspiring illustrators as well as four minors and related programs. Degree options include a BA in Visual Communication with a Concentration in Illustration (Atlanta, Savannah), a BFA in Illustration (Atlanta, Hong Kong, Savannah), an MA in Illustration (Atlanta, Savannah, eLearning), and an MFA in Illustration (Atlanta, Savannah, eLearning). Minors include Animated illustration and Publication Design, Scientific illustration, Illustration for Entertainment, and Illustration for Surface Design. Related degrees include a BFA in Sequential Art (Atlanta, Hong Kong, Savannah)

The Animated illustration and Publication Design program is offered at the Atlanta, Hong Kong, and Savannah campuses. All others are offered at the Savannah campus only. Minor programs are 25 hours and include courses such as Digital Illustration, Illustrative Anatomy and Perspective, Imaginative Illustration: Character Refinement, and Type and Image for Illustrators.

Per the school, students in SCAD’s Illustration degree programs SCAD’s will learn to create “fine-art drawings, bringing ideas, characters and personalities to life using both traditional and digital techniques.” Students will work in a “professional environment through a program structured like a working studio,” and they will “develop a personal style and technique, learning to express their own unique vision while forming a well-rounded perspective on design.”

Students in the degree programs have the opportunity to study outside of their main discipline by taking courses in Advertising, Graphic Design, Motion Media, Printmaking, and Sequential Art. Sample major curriculum courses for the programs include Directed Projects in Illustration, Contextual Character Design, lllustrating Beyond the Page: The Narrative Experience, Illustration Business Strategies and Entrepreneurship, Illustration Markets, Illustration for Publications, and Materials and Techniques.

The BFA in Illustration has four concentration options including Animated Illustration and Publication Design, Concept Design for Animation and Games, Illustration for Games, and Illustration for Surface Design. Each concentration requires four courses, and students have the opportunity to choose from 10 elective hours to further refine their focus.

Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) was founded in 1826, making it the oldest continuously degree-granting college of art and design in the nation. The school, which is home to nearly 3,500 students from 49 states and 65 countries, offers more than 80 programs leading to the BFA, MA, MFA, and MPS degrees. Post-baccalaureate certificate programs are also available and programs are offered in the areas of fine arts, design, electronic media, art education, liberal arts, and professional studies.

Undergraduate programs for aspiring illustrators include a BFA in Illustration with Concentrations in Studio, Illustration + Humanistic Studies, Book Arts, and Sequential Art. Interdisciplinary options for specialized study include Studio Concentrations in Book Arts, Animation, Graphic Design, and Printmaking. In addition to first-year and liberal arts requirements, undergraduates will complete 54 credit hours in illustration. Sample courses include Illustration I & II, Life Drawing, Studio Drawing, and Professional Development. 

Per the school, “seniors are mentored in two semesters of portfolio building work in Senior Illustration I and II to prepare a solid body of work in order to become professional illustrators. Professional Development for Illustrators includes portfolio preparation, business practice, intellectual property, and copyright issues.”

Graduate programs include an MA in Illustration and an MFA in Illustration Practice. The MA is a one-year program for students interested in a career in illustration or in refining their existing illustration practice. The degree culminates in independent work in the form of a capstone portfolio project, exhibition, and review panel. The MFA is a two-year program that attracts “experienced illustrators, advanced students from related disciplines, including writing, design, animation, film, digital media, etc., and students with a cultivated passion for illustration in all its forms.”

Students in the program will develop an independent, second-year thesis project using a medium appropriate to their personal direction and emerging illustration markets, including an exhibition and accompanying case study book.

Graduates of MICA illustration programs have gone on to land positions as Brand Illustrator for Uber, Author and Illustrator of "Nimona," Book Illustrator, Illustrator and Comic Artist for Random House, and many others. Graduates have also continued their education in graduate programs or have successful careers as freelance illustrators.

The New School was founded in 1896. Established as The Chase School, the school later changed its name to New York School of Fine and Applied Art. Today, known as The New School/Parsons, this art and design college is home to nearly 5,500 students enrolled in 130 degree and diploma programs. Options for aspiring illustrators include a BFA in Illustration. Minors in Immersive Storytelling and Comics and Graphic Nature are also available, as well as MFA programs.

The BFA in Illustration program is part of Parsons' School of Art, Media, and Design (AMT). The program prepares students to work in a range of areas including animation, editorial and advertising illustrations, graphic novels, hand lettering, picture books, surface and display design, and toy designs. Sample courses for the program include studio courses such as Drawing/Imaging, Space/Materiality, and Time, and others such as Intro to Visual Culture: Recitation, Language and Letterform, and Objects as History.

Program highlights include projects and internships with Parsons partners including Nickelodeon, Toon Books, The New York Times, Moleskine, Barnes & Noble, and Brooklyn Industries, access to events such as Comic Arts Brooklyn, MoCCA Fest, and other professional gatherings, and the opportunity to connect with New York–based professional organizations such as American Illustration and the Society of Illustrators.

Per the school, these organizations “bring acclaimed art directors, illustrators, and publishing professionals to New York City and the Parsons campus.”

Founded in 1870, Syracuse University (SU) serves more than 22,500 students from across the U.S. and 118 countries. The school offers more 200 majors, 100 minors, and 200 advanced degree programs across 12 colleges and schools and a graduate school. The School of Art offers two programs for aspiring illustrators including BFA and MFA degrees in Illustration.  

The BFA in Illustration combines storytelling, drawing, painting, design, and research. Four focuses help students explore specific professional areas. Focuses include Visual Development, Editorial, Sequential, and Licensing. Other program highlights include engagement with nationally and internationally known visiting artists each year, courses taught by practicing illustrators and artists whose work is published and exhibited nationally and internationally, global study opportunities at the SU campus in Florence, Italy or other countries, workshops and lectures, and visits to New York and Los Angeles.

All BFA students will have the opportunity to develop a portfolio that will be shown to art directors and illustrators for feedback.

Alumni from the illustration program have gone on to work in areas such as illustration for children's books, comics, graphic novels, newspaper, greeting cards, licensing, advertising, magazine, book and online publishing, as well as visual development in animated films, television, and the gaming industry.

The three-year MFA program offers online coursework in addition to classes at its two New York City locations (the Fisher Center and Lubin House) as well as in Syracuse, Los Angeles, and Florence, Italy. Students will complete hours of major studio courses, 12 studio elective credits, 12 art history and related academic credits, and six free elective credits. The program ends with a graduate seminar worth three credits and a final presentation, also worth three credits.

Program highlights include the option to participate in the Ginsburg-Klaus Art in Los Angeles Week (also known as “Art in LA”), the Turner Semester pilot residency program, which allows students to experience the arts of the West Coast and to live and work in San Pedro (the Los Angeles Harbor area) during the spring semester, and the opportunity to interact with visiting and resident artists and scholars. An optional internship is also part of the program.

Founded in 1886, Minneapolis College of Art and Design serves around 800 students from 45 states and 15 countries. The school offers more than a dozen undergraduate majors and minors, and three graduate programs. Program options for aspiring illustrators include a BFA in Illustration. A BFA in Comic Art and an MFA program are also available.

The BFA program begins with foundation classes to help develop technical skills and work ethic and progresses to courses that build both conceptual and technical illustration skills. Sample courses for the program include Children’s Book, Digital Illustration, Editorial Illustration, Foundation 2D and 3D, and Illustration and Products.

In years three and four of the program, students will gain real-world experience through a required internship and they will have the opportunity to study abroad or elsewhere in the U.S. and participate in the Emerging Talent Showcase and share their work with potential employers. Per the school, students will also “develop and complete a semester-long project to culminate in the Commencement Exhibition.” The exhibition showcases the work of MCAD graduates.

Washington University in St. Louis was founded in 1853. The school serves nearly 16,000 students enrolled in more than 90 fields of study across 10 colleges and schools. Part of the Art & Architecture Division, Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts houses the Communication Design Program. Here, aspiring illustrators can earn a BFA in Communication Design with an Emphasis in Illustration, and an MFA in Illustration + Visual Culture. A Minor in Design is also available.

Per thee school, the minor “allows students to mix and match courses in areas such as illustration, communication design, and the illustrated book studio to suit interests and schedules.”

The collaborative BFA in Communication Design with an Emphasis in Illustration combines graphic design, illustration, and interaction design. This means, students in the program can choose to focus on illustrating stories, creating comics, and designing printed posters and books, as well as study the history of printed images, comics, and advertising, make pictures for games and motion graphics, and more. During the last year of the program, “students will pursue a capstone project that culminates in an illustrated book, zine, screen-based presentation, graphic novel/mini-comic, or digital experience,” says the school.

The final project is displayed in a public exhibition and reviewed by external design professionals.

The MFA in Illustration + Visual Culture (MFA-IVC) is a two-year program that combines studio practice in illustration with curatorial training in visual and material culture. The two-year program consists of courses such as Comics and Cartooning: A Survey, lllustration Studio: Artist, Author, Audience, Illustration Studio: Drawing & Voice, Literatures of Drawing, Readings in Visual and Material Culture, and The Illustrated Periodical. Students in the program will also complete an internship.

Graduates of the MFA program will be prepared to work as author-artists of graphic novels and picture books, professors of illustration, critical writers on popular culture, and curatorial staff in museums, libraries, and auction houses. This program launches in Fall 2019,

University of Hartford was chartered in 1957. The school offers 100 degree programs in the arts, humanities, business, engineering and technology, education, and health professions. Approximately 5,000 undergraduate and nearly 1,500 graduate students from 48 states and 48 countries are currently enrolled at the University.

University of Hartford has two program options for aspiring illustrators including a BFA and MFA in Illustration. Offered through Hartford Art School (HAS), which serves around 310 students, the BFA curriculum is designed to introduce students to the techniques and processes used by illustrators. It covers the three primary markets for illustrators: advertising illustration, book illustration, and editorial illustration. Sample courses for the program include Digital Illustration, Drawing for Illustration, Foundation 2D, 3D and 4D Studio, and Intermediate Illustration.

Students in the program will complete a portfolio and a senior project. In the portfolio preparation course, students learn to prepare their work for professional presentation. Per the school, “considerable emphasis is placed on the development of personal style and direction throughout the program.”

The MFA In Illustration is a low-residency program designed for working adults. Also offered through HAS, the MFA combines “intensive, on-campus sessions” in the summer with travel during spring and fall. Fall and spring semesters take place off-campus in places such as Dallas, San Francisco, Pasadena, New York City and other destinations.

Other program highlights include guest speakers, museum visits, and studio visits to places such as Communication Arts Magazine, Electronic Arts Entertainment, Disney Animation Studios, DreamWorks Animation Studios, Lucasfilm, Nickelodeon Studios, and the Society of Illustrators.

The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) was founded in 1740. The school serves 25,367 students enrolled in more than 400 programs across 16 schools. For nearly 100 years, the school has partnered with Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA), established in 1805 and the first museum and school of fine arts in the nation. Per the school, the partnership “provides students with an unparalleled opportunity to pursue their artistic passions and intellectual pursuits in the Ivy League.”

BFA students have access to more than 800 courses in 50+ areas of study. Programs for aspiring illustrators include the PAFA/Penn BFA in Illustration and a Certificate Illustration (PAFA). An MFA program is also available. The PAFA/Penn BFA in Illustration combines studio training with a fine arts focused liberal arts education. The program helps students develop skills in storytelling, visual communication, and entrepreneurship.

Courses in the program include Business Practices of Art, Digital Imaging, History of Illustration, Illustration Methods, Letterpress and Book Arts, Narrative and Sequential Drawing, Visual Narration, and courses with master illustrators such as David Wiesner and E.B. Lewis. Students in both the BFA and Certificate program have access 24-hour access to workspaces and digital facilities including two sky lit painting studios, a number of large painting classrooms, illustration/drawing studios and painting studios, and a rooftop terrace often used for cityscapes.

Per the school, graduates of the PAFA/Penn Illustration Programs “will be equipped with the tools to launch careers in fields including animation, book and magazine illustration, graphic novels, poster and storyboard art, medical illustration, and many other art- and design-related professions.”

Established in 1890, Columbia College was serves more than 7,000 undergraduate students and 285 graduate students from nearly every state and more than 60 countries. The school has over 100 academic majors or programs across several schools and more than 20 departments. Schools include the School of Media Arts, the School of Fine and Performing Arts, and the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The School of Fine and Performing Arts is home to the Illustration Program, which has both BA and BFA options.

The BA is a flexible program allows students to choose a minor or second major. Minor options include Animation, Creative Writing, Game Art, Journalism, Graphic Design, and Motion Graphics. Second major options that complement the degree include Computer Animation, Game Art, Graphic Design, and Traditional Animation.

The BFA is requires more advanced courses in illustration than the BFA program, which leaves little time for a minor or a second major. Sample courses for the BA program include Design Lab, Digital Illustration, Figure Drawing, Illustration Studio I, II & III, Illustration: Materials & Techniques, and Survey of Typography. The program also consists of a required internship.

Major courses for the BFA include Cartooning, Children's Book Illustration, Commercial Illustration, Drawing the Graphic Novel, History of Political and Social Illustration, Special Issues in Illustration, and Survey of Typography. An internship is part of the program as well as a Portfolio Development course. Because many illustrators work independently, both the BFA and BA programs also emphasize work emphasizes business skills in entrepreneurship and freelance.

BA and BFA students typically intern at a design firm, advertising agency, or art gallery and both programs also prepare students for positions in industries such as advertising, book and magazine publishing, entertainment/film, fashion, and product packaging.

Founded in 1909, Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) is a fine arts and design college that offers eleven BFA degrees, seven graduate degrees including MFA and MA degrees, a Minor, a Post-Baccalaureate, and a variety of Community Education programs for adults and youth. Around 550 students from 42 states and 10 countries are enrolled in 21 areas of study from Animated Arts to Video and Sound.

The Illustration Program is one of the top undergraduate options at PNCA. A BFA is available as well as a Community Education Certificate. PNCA also offers an MFA program. Per the school, the BFA in Illustration “combines development of technical skill in traditional studio media and new and emerging technologies with conceptual inquiry to empower (students) to create visual messages capable of engaging clients and changing culture.”

Program highlights include mentorship programs, professional practices instruction, portfolio preparation and internship opportunities. Internships for seniors and recent graduates have taken place at companies such as Dark Horse Comics, Microsoft, Nike, Nintendo, and Wieden+Kennedy.

PNCA students also have the opportunity to show their work at an annual end-of-year showcase hosted by the Illustration Department at a downtown gallery.