Hello fellow designers, or just people interested in design. I know many people who are interested in design, maybe they dabble in a little bit of art, or have a talent waiting to be unleashed. One thing that I would recommend to anybody trying to break into a job market today is an education, though. I have spent years trying to acquire skills through various schools (Morehead State University, The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, and The International Academy of Design and Technology), and I’ve found that some are better than others. In the end, the school you attend is personal preference, so I would suggest doing some research before jumping into the educational pool.

I’m going to share some of my experience, to educate you on a design education. It begins at Morehead State University, the local college where I live. It is a very interesting community located in a small town, and has some very creative individuals. One or two of the instructors at MSU were very inspirational, but the college did not offer the degree I wanted to pursue. The only option available to me was an Art major with emphasis in Graphic Design. This was not comprehensive enough for me to build a career once I graduated. The realization that I couldn’t get what I was paying for at MSU is what started the online search, and the subject of this post – The Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online vs. The International Academy of Design and Technology.

After Morehead State, I attended the Art Institute. It was a well-advertised school that offered the degree I was looking for. When I logged into my online classroom for the first time, it seemed so simple. I could attend class whenever I wanted, as there was no physical classroom. The reading list was very informative, and my collection of design reference material grew rapidly. The quality of education I was receiving was astounding compared to MSU, and it was challenging my skills. The fast-paced learning environment coupled with the quality feedback from instructors made me notice myself growing as an artist at a rapid pace.

This all seemed great at first, until I went through a solid year of trying to balance school, work, and family. The double classes, with assignments due almost every night, were difficult to keep up with. No direct interaction with instructors was also a bit irritating. It’s somewhat difficult to communicate if there is no live conversation. It was almost as if I were teaching myself and paying massive amounts of money for it.

If hindsight is 20/20, I never knew until I saw Allysia’s school. The International Academy of Design and Technology seemed to have all of the good features of the Art Institute, and very few of the bad ones. I watched her attend school for nearly a year in the same kind of fast-paced environment, yet she was nearly stress-free. The instructors gave the same great feedback, even if they do seem a bit more relaxed, and she was learning many of the things that I had already taught myself.

The lack of stress is what intrigued me to check out more of the Academy. This is when I found the other great benefits of the Academy. Watching Ally attend class was like a whole new experience. She attended live chats with her professors, where she could interact with them in real-time. Her major projects were always due on Sundays, so that if she had a heavy workload outside of class, she still had plenty of time to catch up on the weekends. The class load alternates between sessions, from one class, to two classes, preventing her from having a constant overload. Ally began producing quality portfolio pieces from her classes that I was never able to produce from mine, because she had more time and freedom to complete them. She was being taught rather than teaching herself from text on a screen. I decided to transfer.

My transfer from the Art Institute to the Academy was a pleasant experience on one side of the fence, and a nightmare on the other. The Art Institute’s financial aid department made me jump through hoops to withdraw, then informed me that I had a $2500 balance that was overdue by 6 months, a balance that I knew nothing about until I wanted to leave. The Academy, on the other hand, had all of my transfer paperwork readily available from my online campus. Needless to say, it was a pleasant yet difficult transfer, and one that I’m glad I made.

As I mentioned in the beginning, each individual will have a different preference, but I enjoy the freedom and the environment of the Academy. I’m much less stressed about pulling off an impossible balancing act that was thrown off by a very hectic school life. I give kudos to the Academy for fixing nearly all of the issues I had with the Art Institute.

If you have any thoughts or questions, leave a comment below. Do you know of any other accredited online design schools? Let us know.

Bookmark It