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The Art institute of Dallas- Your Creative Education

Posted by Designer Meetup in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX on Oct 24, 2008

In America, there are forty-one Art Institutes. An estimated 125,000 students have graduated from these for profit schools. Student’s can choose between a certificate program, associate degree , bachelor degree, or master’s degree. One of the Art Institutes school’s is the, Art Institute of Dallas. It was established in 1964, and currently has around 1700 students. The campus is on 60 acres of land just north of downtown Dallas, TX.

Programs that are offered at The Art Institute of Dallas:
Photography
Digital Filmmaking & Video Production
Graphic Design
Media Arts and Animation
Video Production
Web Design and Interactive Media
Advertising design

Unlike a university, the Art Institute of Dallas offers uninterrupted education. The student can partake in year round classes toward their degree. The Career Service’s Dept can link students with internships and externships, while they attend class. The service also help's with transition from the education setting to the work setting. Classroom’s are spacious, with a small student load. This serves to encourage the creative process. All classroom’s are equipped with the industry related equipment and materials to prepare the student’s for the real life setting, and promote hands on experience. Senior culinary student’s operate “The Chef’s Gallery,” which is a restaurant open to the public.

The instructor’s are not as formal as typical university professor’s are with student’s. Some offer an: email address, telephone number, or message board. This allows the student to communicate with an instructor, and ask a question during after class hours. The institute touts that their faculty are not only just teacher’s; but also have a background, and hands on experience with what they are teaching.

An academic advisor will take the time to do an individualized education plan for every student. The advisor will continue to help the student manage and reevaluate this plan over each quarter. As the educational process progresses, the plan will become more and more personalized, for the specific area the student wishes to find a job in.

Accreditation for the Art Institute of Dallas is given by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. However, some of the Art Institute of Dallas’s credits will not transfer to a University. So, ensure that any credit will transfer, if you are planning to latter transfer the credit.

Financial aid is available through: federal student loans, federal grants, scholarships, veterans benefits, and the Federal Work- Study Program.

Some degree’s are now being offered at night and/or on weekends. The Art Institute of Dallas generally has an open house in early November. This is a meet and great tour; showing you the campus, learning environment, and introduction to the creative focus of the school.

The Art Institute of Dallas should definitely be considered, if you are seeking a degree in any of the above mentioned fields. Art Institutes often get a bad rap. However, some great careers have been launched from Art Institutes. Blayne Walsh- from Project runway, Jon Shook- from Food Network, Ty Pennington - from Trading Spaces…..are all graduates of Art Institutes.