Here are some tips for selecting schools, based on an analysis comparing each school to all others across dozens of factors:
Schools Concentrating On Graphic Designers
- Focus: For schools with a focus on this career area, look at Brookdale Community College, Burlington County College, Union County College, and County College of Morris.
Fastest Response From Schools
- Request Info: For the fastest information for prospective students, look at the Spotlight schools on this page.
Student Body
- Part-Time: For schools emphasizing part-time studies, consider Kean, Felician, and Montclair State.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Saint Peter's College and Felician.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider Kean, Union County College, Raritan Valley Community College, and Burlington County College.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of Saint Peter's College, Sussex County Community College, Salem Community College, and Felician.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Saint Peter's College, Felician, Montclair State, and Kean.
Excellence
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at Montclair State and Saint Peter's College.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at Saint Peter's College and Felician.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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The Anthem Institute • North Brunswick, NJ
Studying Graphic Design (completion in 2007)
• 10/25/2011
"Honestly, I was not satisfied at all. It was a horrible experience, and had I known what I do now, I would have taken my money elsewhere. I do not regret obtaining the Graphic Design Certificate, as there is nothing more important to me in the world than loving your job."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | no | Is this answer a surprise to you? I highly doubt it! I would greatly urge anybody pursuing a career in graphic design to stay far, far away from this school. |
| Program Reputation | 3 | I can't give you a very accurate response on this question, because I no longer live near the school or care to keep up on it. The last I knew, I was not the only one with these thoughts so I would have to say that the reputation of the program is rather poor. |
| Program Quality | 1 | The program was absolutely horrible. The instructors could not provide me with valuable industry knowledge, so I took it upon myself to learn from the books to the best of my ability. |
| Instruction | 1 | I was very unfortunate to attend the school at the time that I did. As I said before, the instructors were a joke and could not seem to tell me anything that the Adobe books could not. |
| How Difficult | 1 | I have to admit, being such a horrible school, it was terribly easy to make good grades. This was most likely due to the carelessness and incompetence of the school staff. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | This specific field required a certain amount of hands-on work. Students were expected to create illustrations and build websites for various projects. Be that as it may, most of the teachers we had not only taught us straight out of the book, but confessed openly to learning the material as they went along. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 1 | The schedule for my particular program was entirely inflexible. It was a fixed 5 hour a day class, 5 days a week. |
| Academic Facilities | 5 | The building itself was more than ample in space and supplies. Many great things could be done within the building, but without a respectable staff it will most likely maintain its negative reputation. |
| Social Life | 1 | Everyone in my class, including me, believed this school to be a joke. School spirit was practically non existent as we all felt there was nothing to be proud of. Students frequently talked of being scammed and gypped out of their hard earned money for a "fake college experience." |
| Placement Services | 1 | As I stated earlier, they set me up with a scam artist. They do not look into the jobs at all before offering them up to students, and in my opinion it is a very careless department. |
| Alumni Network | 1 | This school wants nothing to do with me now. The "graduate placement department" set me up with a job that worked me to the bone and never paid me a dime, and nobody there wanted to hear it. |
Camden County College • Blackwood, NJ
Studying Applied Sciences (completion in 2009)
• 2/24/2012
"I didn't like it."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | no | I would not recommend it. It was awful. |
| Program Reputation | 5 | My understanding was that it was a good program. People still speak well of it. |
| Program Quality | 1 | It was a waste of money. I have no ability. |
| Instruction | 1 | My instructors were unmotivated. I was largely self-taught. |
| How Difficult | 1 | All I had to do was show up. It wasn't very hard. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Skills were largely self-taught. I almost never attended a lecture. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 10 | There were plenty of options. I never had a problem getting a comfortable schedule. |
| Academic Facilities | 3 | They had three labs. None of them were ever open. |
| Social Life | 5 | I guess it was alright. I had a lot of friends. |
| Placement Services | They don't have one, which is really a shame. | |
| Alumni Network | 1 | I don't know that they have an alumni network. I never really looked. |
Kean University • Union, NJ
Studying Visual Communications (completion in 1994)
• 2/29/2012
"I think my school was a good value for the money. I wish my school had a little bit better reputation outside of the state of NJ, though."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | My experience with the graphic design teachers was very good. Kean University has one of the best graphic design programs in New Jersey according to people who are involved in the design business. |
| Program Reputation | 6 | A lot of people from outside of NJ don't know about Kean University. It is underrated, even though I think this unfair. I believe the academic quality is better than the reputation. |
| Program Quality | 9 | My professors were very good. My college was one of the best for graphic design in the state I live in. |
| Instruction | 10 | My professors knew a lot about graphic design. There was a good mix of tough and easy professors. |
| How Difficult | 9 | There was a lot of work to do. If someone was not passionate about graphic design, it would have been extremely difficult. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Both hands on and book-learning were a big part of my education. Some teachers were more into the hands on and actually did not use books at all in certain classes. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 9 | My own experience was that there was a lot of flexibility in the times classes were available. Other students were also happy with the way they were able to work their schedules around their lives. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | The facilities had all of the basic things that were needed. It would have been nice if there was a little bit more space. |
| Social Life | 7 | There were a lot of sports events. A lot of students liked to hang out with one another outside of school. |
| Placement Services | 5 | I don't think the job placement help is that good. Other schools don't really have a great job placement program from what I've heard from people who graduated from other schools. |
| Alumni Network | 3 | I don't really follow the alumni network. The alumni network really does not promote itself as much as other schools do, in my opinion. |
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