Top 5 Animation School Programs in Illinois - 2021 College Rankings

Founded in 1866, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is one of the oldest accredited independent schools of art and design in the country. Recognized as “the most influential art college in the United States,” by Columbia University’s National Arts Journalism survey, SAIC offers more than 50 areas of study in 24 departments.

The Film, Video, New Media, and Animation Department (FVNMA) offers several programs for aspiring animators including BFA and MFA in Studio degrees with a Concentration Animation, and a Certificate in Studio. The Department says it “endorses and encourages experimentation with radical form and content,” and is “open to many approaches to and understandings of experimental media art.” The Department is “dedicated” to helping students develop their “art practice in a variety of forms and contexts including the use of high definition video, new media art, experimental 3D animation, hand-drawn animation, and filmmaking.”

Students in the FVNMA department are taught by “award-winning pioneers,”  “revolutionaries,” and working professionals in the fields of experimental film, video, animation, nonfiction, narrative, installation, glitch, interactivity, art games, curating, archiving, and web-based art projects. Students also learn from “internationally renowned artists, critics, historians, and curators who regularly visit through the department and SAIC's Visiting Artists Program.”

Other FVNMA Department highlights include graduate projects and fall and spring critique weeks for MFA students, as well as access to world-class resources such as the Art Institute of Chicago Museum, on-campus galleries, and state-of-the-art facilities. Examples include The Gene Siskel Film Center, The Donna and Howard Stone Gallery for Film, Video, and New Media at the Modern Wing, and The Video Data Bank, which is considered the leading resource in the United States for videos by and about contemporary artists.

Famous SAIC alumni include Cynthia Rowley, David Sedaris, Georgia O’Keeffe, Elizabeth Murray, Jeff Koons, LeRoy Neiman, Michelle Grabner, Nick Cave, and Richard Hunt.

Columbia College Chicago (Columbia) was founded in 1890 as the Columbia School of Oratory by Mary A. Blood and Ida Morey Riley. Both women were graduates of the Monroe Conservatory of Oratory (now Emerson College, in Boston, Massachusetts). By 1904, the school had a new name, Columbia College of Expression, and in 1927 it became a sister institution with the Pestalozzi-Froebel Teachers College. Columbia College of Expression dissolved its partnership with the Teachers College In 1944 and became Columbia College. Nearly 50 years later, the school became what it is known as today—Columbia College Chicago.

Serving nearly 7,000 students from all 50 states and 60 countries, Columbia offers 150 majors, minors, and graduate programs in the Schools of Media Arts, Fine and Performing Arts, and Liberal Arts and Sciences. The School of Media Arts is home to the Interactive Arts and Media Department, which offers three degree programs for animators: a BA in Animation and BFAs in Computer Animation or Traditional Animation. A Minor in Animation is also available. Students in all programs begin animating in their first year.

Per the school, “BA students have the option of working with a team their senior year to create an animated film in Animation Production Studio, they can work on their own solo film, or take electives that will help them polish their demo reels and gain professional-level competency in the areas of their choosing.”

The Animation Production Studio is an intensive, two-semester capstone course that introduces students to the animated film process. Studio students will have the opportunity to, “supervise and be supervised in roles ranging from director to editor.” Finished films will be presented at Columbia College’s annual urban arts festival known as “Manifest,” which “celebrates the amazing work” of the school’s graduating students.

BFA students are required to take Animation Production Studio and produce their own animated thesis film as a solo project. This is similar in scope to the team project except students will have three full semesters to complete it. Students in the program will work as the producer, director, editor, and every other role in between.

All students will have the opportunity to take the one-credit course—Animation Studios in LA—where they will spend time learning professional standards and industry preparation as well as touring local animation studios such as Cartoon Network, Disney, DreamWorks, Nickelodeon, and Warner Bros.

Graduates of the Animation programs at Columbia College Chicago have won Oscars and Emmys and they have worked on popular animated films and series such as Brave, Coco, Finding Dory, Frozen, Pocahontas, Robot Chicken, The Lego Batman Movie, The Lion King, and UP. Alumni work at networks and studios such as Cartoon Network, Disney, DreamWorks Studios, Nickelodeon, Pixar, Warner Bros. Animation, Weta Digital, and many others.

The American Academy of Art College was founded in 1923 as a school for professional artists seeking careers in the commercial and fine arts fields. Today, this small, private institution serves more than 200 students enrolled in seven programs leading to a BFA degree. For aspiring animators, the school offers a 3D Modeling and Animation area that “incorporates traditional skills, such as sculpture and drawing, with 3D digital skills to create 3D models and animations in a digital environment.”

The program begins with developing essential skills in art technique and the humanities and sciences, then progresses to the development of creative and critical thinking skills. The 3D modeling and animation courses focus on lighting effects, camera angles, motion studies, and digital video and sound to create scenes.

Upon completion of the program, students will have the skills needed to compose, develop and direct a scene to convey an idea, create a project concept and plan a production schedule, synthesize traditional art with 3D composite and photo-editing skills, and visually and verbally articulate a familiarity with current and historic industry examples. Graduates will leave the BFA program with a demo reel focused on an industry specialization.

American Academy of Art College alumni hold titles such as 2D and 3D Animator, Art Director, Background Artist, Film/Video Editor, Game Designer, Motion Graphics Designer, Visual Developer, Visual FX Artist, and many others.