| Ranking | School | City |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kansas City Art Institute | Kansas City |
| 2 | Washington University in St. Louis | St. Louis |
| 3 | Webster University | St. Louis |
| 4 | Missouri State University | Springfield |
| 5 | Southeast Missouri State University | Cape Girardeau |
Our 2024 ranking of the top illustration schools in Missouri. For an explanation of the ranking criteria, click here.
Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) is home to the Department of Illustration. One of the school’s largest and fastest growing departments, the Department of Illustration has a BFA program with a required internship with potential employer’s such as Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Porter Teleo Design Firm, The Kansas City Star, The American Jazz Museum, and Boulevard Brewing Company.
Students also have access to 21,500 square feet of studios, including the new Tony Jones Studios, that provide the opportunity to learn and work in a professional environment. Through MICRO—KCAI’s in-house agency, students can also gain hands-on experience working on projects with partner brands such as the Kansas City Royals and Children’s Mercy Hospital.
All programs at Kansas City Art Institute begin with the KCAI Foundation Program. This immersive experience lasts a full year and includes dedicated industrial studios and independent work and storage spaces; collaborative programs, projects, and workshops; training in the Print Center (digital design and output), Beals Studios (digital fabrication), and Central Shop (woodworking); faculty mentors; and 16 contact hours of studio per week.
During the first-year program, students will also participate in the Foundation Seminar, which provides the opportunity to interact with activists, artists, and KCAI alumni. Upon completion of the first year, BFA students may move on to second year requirements or declare a double major in Illustration and Art History or Illustration and Creative Writing.
All KCAI Illustration students will explore storytelling; 2D and 3D; and traditional and digital media while creating children’s books, video games, comic books, and editorial magazines. Course examples for the program include Organic Perceptions; Paper and Ink; Exploring the Narrative; Analytical Drawing Systems; Covers and Pages; Storytellers-Myth Makers; Graphic Form for Illustrators; Cultural Safari; Conceptual Problem Solving; and US (Collaboration, Teamwork and Flexibility).
In the final year of the program, students will complete Illustration in Action: Networking & Exhibition, and Professional Practice: The Business of Illustration. The KCAI Illustration BFA program culminates with a thesis completed over two courses: Image Thesis I and II.
Graduates of the Illustration BFA program at Kansas City Art Institute have won awards presented by publications such as Print, Communication Arts, The Society of Illustrators, and American Illustration. Program alumni work has been featured in children’s books and in publications such as Wired, The New York Times, Step-Inside-Design, and Women’s Day. Illustration BFA graduates have also been hired in a variety of roles by industry leaders such as Nickelodeon, American Greetings, MTV, Nike, and Hallmark.
Kansas City Art Institute was established in 1885 as a Sketch Club. Situated just steps from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art within Kansas City’s arts corridor, this four-year art and design college serves more than 700 students enrolled in 13 majors across 15 program areas. Kansas City Art Institute is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD).
The Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) was established in 2006. Within the school are the College of Art, Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, and the College of Architecture. Programs for Illustrators are part of the College of Art and include BA and BFA degrees in Studio Art & Design with a major in Communication Design, and the Illustration + Visual Culture MFA (MFA-IVC). Communication Design students may select the 15-unit Design minor or move between illustration, drawing, book arts, interaction design, and more to match their goals.
The minor has a mix and match component that allows students to select courses in Illustration, Communication, the Illustrated Book Studio, and Fashion Design. Communication Design students may select as many illustration courses as they desire. Course examples include Illustration as Practice; Applied Illustration; Animated Worlds; Image and Meaning; Panel by Panel: Narrative Comics; Semiotics Studio: Designing Signs and Symbols; Literatures of Drawing; and The Illustrator’s Sketchbook.
The Communication Design BFA begins with the First Year Experience, which consists of core studios such as 2D Design, digital studio, and drawing. Students will also attend a weekly seminar. All studios are taught in teams by communication design and studio art faculty, and mentored by a dedicated academic advisor. In the second and third years of the BFA program, students will take advanced courses and select their own major courses.
The WashU Communication Design BFA culminates with a Capstone project. For this final project, students have created comics, illustrated books, graphic novels, screen-based art, zines, and digital experiences. Capstones are displayed in a public exhibition and reviewed by art and design professionals.
The Illustration + Visual Culture MFA is a two-year, fully residential program that consists of 50% Illustration studio work, 20% Visual Culture, History & Theory, 15-20% hands-on archive work, and 10-15% electives. Housed in the Roxanne H. Frank Design Studio (the Roxy), the MFA-IVC provides each student with their own studio space and access to state-of-the-art equipment and software, study areas, and group critique sessions.
Electives for the program allow students to focus in specific areas of art, design, and entertainment. Elective examples include Narrative Comics; Book Arts; Illustration Concepts and Media; Branding and Identity; Image & Story; Painting; Animated Worlds; The Illustrator’s Sketchbook; Game Design; Visual Culture; Applied Illustration; Type and Image: Experiments on Press; Printmaking; Typography; and Art History.
Consisting of 60 credit hours, the MFA-IVC program at WashU requires courses such as Illustration Studio 1: Drawing & Voice; Comics & Cartooning: A Critical Survey; The Illustrated Periodical; Special Collections: Exhibitions & Engagement; Readings in Visual & Material Culture; Special Collections: Research Methods; and Graduate Drawing Studio. All MFA-IVC students will complete an internship and two final Thesis courses including Thesis Studio 1: Drawing & Voice, and Thesis Studio 2.
Graduates of the MFA-IVC program at the WashU’s Sam Fox School are prepared for to pursue roles such as author-artists of picture books, graphic novels, and comics; creative directors; illustration professors; curatorial staff in libraries, auction houses and museums; and critical writer’s on popular culture.
Founded in 1853, Washington University in St. Louis serves approximately 15,220 students enrolled in more than 300 academic programs across seven schools and the Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Architecture; and Art. The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts was founded in 2006 after the merging of the academic units of Architecture and Art, and the Washington University in St. Louis Museum. Washington University in St. Louis has been accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) since 1913.
The Leigh Gerdine College of Fine Arts at Webster University (Webster) houses the Department of Art, Design, and Art History (DADAH). Within the DADAH are two paths to study Illustration: the Art BFA with an intensive studio Illustration emphasis and an Illustration certificate. The Art BFA consists of 73 required credit hours, 29 elective credit hours, and the 18 credit-hour Global Citizenship Program (GCP) for a total of 120 credit hours.
GCP requirements come from courses in the following categories: Global Understanding, Roots and Cultures, Quantitative Literacy, Social Systems & Human Behavior, and Physical & Natural World. DADAH Art BFA students will also complete the Global Keystone and Global Cornerstone seminars.
The Illustration emphasis features courses such as Creative Strategies; Topics in Illustration and Drawing; Current Art; Narrative Figure Drawing; Concept Art; Digital Visualizations; Anatomy Studies; Materials and Making; Character Design; Illustration; Observational Drawing; Professional Practice for Illustrators.
During the final year of the Art BFA/Illustration program at Webster University, students will complete the DADAH Critique and BFA Review, leading to the Senior Exhibition.
Webster’s 18 credit hour Illustration certificate is designed for students interested in supplementing a related major. Core courses for the Illustration certificate program include Narrative Figure Drawing; Topics in Studio Art: Illustration; Digital Visualizations; and Illustration. To reach 18 credit hours, students may choose electives from art, animation, and design. Examples include Comic Book Creation; Design for Digital Portfolios; Digital Drawing; Printmaking Concepts and Techniques; Character Design; Text and Image; Design Play; Painting I; and Anatomy Studies.
Graduates of the Illustration programs at Webster University are prepared to pursue careers in areas such as animation, television, and film; traditional and children’s book publishing; magazine and newspaper publishing; comic book and graphic novel publishing; advertising and marketing; packaging and brand design; game art and design; graphic design; fashion design and retail; toy design; scientific and medical illustration; storyboard art; courtroom illustration; patent illustration; and forensic art.
Webster University was founded in 1915 as Loretto College by the Sisters of Loretto. When it opened, the school became the first senior Catholic college for women in Missouri and one of the first Catholic women’s colleges west of the Mississippi River. Today, Webster serves approximately 13,450 students enrolled in more than 160 programs across five colleges and schools. Webster University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).
Missouri State University (MSU) houses the Judith Enyeart Reynolds College of Arts and Letters, home to the largest publicly funded Art and Design department in the state. Within MSU A+D are programs that provide opportunities to gain hands-on experience through service-learning courses; exhibitions of art and research; internships; public presentations; volunteer and docent experiences with affiliated local museums; and participation in professional conferences. Exhibition venues include Brick City Gallery; Taylor Gallery; Carolla Arts Exhibition Center; and Cabot Gallery.
All MSU A+D students also have the opportunity to study abroad in Italy through programs such as Art and Art History in Florence at San Miniato al Monte; and in Tainan Taiwan at the Tainan National University of the Arts. Examples of past study abroad experiences include MSU A+D in Pisa, Italy; and Gyeongbokgung Palace in South Korea.
The Art and Design Department at MSU also provides a Design BFA program with Illustration and Graphic Design and Illustration tracks. The Design major requires 79-94 credit hours with 61 in the major, and 18 in the Illustration track or 33 in the Graphic Design and Illustration track. Illustration students will take courses such as Illustration; Intermediate Illustration; and Materials and Techniques for Illustration.
A Special Topics in Design course allows students to select from topics such as Book Arts, Scientific Illustration, Comic Book Illustration. History of the Book, Letterpress Printing, and Art Direction. Electives allow students to further enhance the degree with options selected from Computer Animation; Digital Imaging; Design; Printmaking; Photography; and Drawing and Painting.
The Graphic Design and Illustration track requires 15 credit hours in Graphic Desing and nine in Illustration. Course examples include Image Design; Illustration; Advanced Graphics; Intermediate Illustration; Basic New Media Design; Materials and Techniques for Illustration; and Special Topics in Design.
The Design BFA program at Missouri State University culminates with a public presentation of the students Final Design Project. Graduates are prepared for careers.
Art and Design graduates are prepared to pursue careers as Illustrators, Graphic Novelists, Cartoonists, Storyboard Artists, Concept Artists, Character Designers, Advertising Illustrators, and Educators.
Founded in 1905, Missouri State University is a public university system with three physical campuses in Springfield, West Plains, and Mountain Grove, Missouri, and one in Dalian, China. The school serves approximately 24,000 students enrolled in more 270 options across eight colleges. Programs lead to a leading range of bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
Missouri State University has been continuously accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) since 1915. MSU is also an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD).
Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) is home to Holland College of Arts and Media, which houses the Department of Art + Design. Accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), the department emphasizes learning by doing. Other program features include opportunities to participate in student organizations; work and learn in dedicated creative spaces; study abroad in places such as Italy, Ireland, Belgium, Scotland, France, and England; complete an internship at a local, regional, or national organization; and travel to cultural destinations such as Chicago and New York.
At the undergraduate level, Holland Art + Design provides seven degrees and minors. For Illustrators, the department has Art BA and BFA degrees with the option to specialize in an area of interest or select elective courses that align with the students goals.
All students will begin with Foundation courses. This includes 2D Design; 3D Design; Drawing I-II; Color Composition; and Digital Literacy for Art & Design. Students in both programs will take Professional Practices in Visual Art. Across programs, students have access to courses such as Illustration; Design Communications (with an emphasis on Illustration); Visual Narratives; Drawing in Society; Paper, Book, & Fibers; Drawing III; Painting I-V; Interactive Design; Intaglio; 3D Production for Interactive Media; Design for Social Good; Relief and Mixed Printmaking; Time Based Media; and UI/UX Design.
The Art programs at Southeast Missouri University culminate with the Capstone Project. With a 95% success rate within six months of graduation, SEMO Art alumni are prepared to pursue positions at publishing houses, animation studios, newspapers and magazines, game design studios, comic book publishers, advertising agencies, children’s book publishers, museums and galleries, toy design companies, packaging firms, graphic design studios, and medical research institutions.
Southeast Missouri State University was founded in 1873 as a Teacher’s College. Today, the school serves approximately 9,685 students enrolled in 150 academic programs across 200 areas of study and five colleges. Southeast Missouri State University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission (HLC).
