Does anyone know if there are any schools other than The Art Institute Online and Brevard Community College that offer an associates degree in Graphic Design or Multimedia / Web Design through distance learning? Eventually I would like to earn a bachelor's degree and then a master's degree so I would like to start with an associate's degree that would allow me to continue on toward the higher degrees at a later time. Thank you! Michelle
Thank you for the suggestion, Orson. Syracuse would be a great school to earn a degree from, but after looking over their website, I don't think that any of their bachelor's degrees would work for me. Too bad I'm not already going after my master's. Thank you! Michelle
Bellevue Community College in Washington state offers programs in this field, however they describe the degrees as non-transferrable. ------------------ Bill Gossett
Thank you for your suggestion, Bill. I had looked at Bellevue Community College but was hoping to enroll in a program based more on art. I think I should have been more clear in my initial message. Here's the background I should have given in my first message: I started studying web design on my own about three years ago and have my own business at http://www.michelleswebdesigns.com . A year ago I earned a certificate in web design from a local university so that I would have a paper stating that I did know what I was doing, even though I learned very little from the classes (although, they certainly weren't wasted since one of my professors hired me to do contract work for him). I have found the technical aspects of web design to be easy to pick up on my own but have had to work a lot harder to learn the artistic aspects of this field, so I would like to take some classes on color and design, typography, logos, and corporate branding. My concern with some of the programs, especially those aimed primarily at web designers, is that the class information looks a lot like the same basic stuff that I've been able to pick up on my own, yet I can tell from comparing my own designs to those of artists from top art schools that I still have a lot to learn, and I want to learn as much as I can. With being a single mom of four children, two of which are homeschooled, and running my own business, classes at a regular brick and mortar school are out of the question at this time, and finances are also tight. The last few days I've been able to find a couple more schools that might offer distance education art degrees, and I would be grateful to have your opinions on the schools. Vermont College http://www.tui.edu/vermontcollege/index.htm has a very interesting program that sounds like it might be extremely helpful in refining my skills if I were able to figure out a way to visit the school for a week twice a year, but I had never heard of it or the Union Institute, so I wasn't sure if it was a legitimate school or not. Also, one of the SUNY schools offers a promising graphic design degree that appears to be partially online http://www.mvcc.edu/catalog/graphic/gc-gdonline.htm . I tried calling the school to find out if I might be able to earn the degree mostly at home if I took a few classes at a local college but haven't been able to reach anyone yet. The last school was Caldwell College http://www.caldwell.edu/index.html although I'm not sure if their art degree can be earned through distance education and they have not returned my phone call yet. Does anyone have any opinions on these schools? Thank you! Michelle
ANY luck...? Dear Michelle-- Have you had any luck in your quest? Or have you had to compromise? --Orson
Orson, I enrolled in the Graphic Design program at Mohawk Valley Community College in New York. When I came back to post a message after I had decided on the school, I wasn't able to find this thread, so I started a new one. This is what I had written: In the spring I took two classes. One of the classes was excellent, with very good instruction and feedback, plus a lot of positive interaction between the students. The other class was not that great, but the professor was going through a rough time, so I'm not sure how the class would have turned out if he hadn't had so many personal problems during the semester. He was out of town so often that I imagine his traditional classes suffered also. The school just switched from it's own distance education delivery program to Blackboard, so hopefully that will eliminate some of the problems I had with the one class. I've already registered for next semester and will be going full time. Because the online classes seem pretty new to the art department, only a few of the graphic design classes are offered online each semester. I've taken some of my classes out of order, which hasn't been a problem for me since I already have work experience in the field, but one of my friends who is near the end of his degree was frustrated that only two of the classes he needs to finish were being offered in the fall. The last time we wrote to each other, he was trying to decide if he should just wait until the next semester to finish up or register for a few classes at other schools. My advisor told me that I might be able to take some classes through independent study in the future if I had a similar problem. I think that the school will offer more classes online each semester as more people sign up for the program. Overall, I'm really happy with the school and have been enjoying learning new things.
Check out Thomas Edison State College - their BA can include art and communications as area concentrations. Sounds like you are in a position to earn some portfolio credits for your work and for your life experiences (sociology, business, hobbies). TESC may also offer AA degrees.
Thanks for the suggestion, Ian. I did check out Thomas Edison, and it's actually one of the schools I'm considering transferring to once I complete my associates degree (since I'll have the art degree, plus one year at Johns Hopkins, plus my work experiences--hopefully I'll be pretty close to earning a bachelors once the associates is completed), but from their website it didn't look like they offered any classes in graphic design even though they offer the art and communication concentration.
