Ringling College of Art and Design

Museum of Art

Ringling College of Art and Design, also located in Sarasota, Florida is an art school.  Ringling is another name that is familiar to us all, and Ringling gets its name from its original benefactor, the circus mogul.  With about 1900 art students on campus, Ringling presses those students hard for four years to make them masters of their craft and to help them become profitable.  The programs that they offer at Ringling are Business of Art and Design, Film, Graphic Design, Photography, Illustration, Computer Animation, Game Art, Creative Writing, Interior Design, Motion Design, Fine Arts and Visual Design. 

Students who are focused and passionate about their art are great candidates for any of these programs.  The thing that I fell is most compelling about a Ringling degree is the results that their graduates are getting.  At one point during the tour of their Film and Computer Animation departments, the hallways were filled with movie posters that Ringling graduates worked on as both current students and as graduates.  There were approaching 100 of them with movies that everyone will recognize.  The graduates are more than gainfully employed, which refutes the common belief that art degrees are high debt with low earning potential later on.  Be fully aware, a four year experience at Ringling will work a student thoroughly, but will make that student an expert in their field.

Ringling places a high level of importance on the portfolio when seeking admissions.  Because it is so important, here is a breakdown of advice from the admissions office: https://www.ringling.edu/portfolio-prep  They have a test optional college admission process, and the emphasis is not on these measures as much as it is on the creativity and artistic ability that the student possesses.

places of employment

As an art school, you might expect that the price tag is high.  You would be right!  Total cost of attendance is $50,000 per year, but financial aid is available for merit based upon the portfolio and on financial need.  Unfortunately, you will not know the exact cost until after completion of the FAFSA and the portfolio.  They work very hard to help a student learn to market themselves and to understand how to use this education to be justly rewarded in salary.