Common Questions About Animation Schools

Some of the most affordable animation programs are typically housed within community colleges and public colleges and universities. And if you live in state, you will often pay thousands less than what someone would pay from out of state. Some of the most affordable schools that offer animation programs are Brigham Young University, California State University – Los Angeles, University of South Florida, Brooklyn College, California State University – Fullerton, University of Central Florida, and University of Arkansas – Fort Smith. Some of the most affordable independent animation schools are Animation Mentor ($14,994 for the entire certificate program) and The Digital Animation & Visual Effects School (The DAVE School) ($33,500 for the entire digital production diploma program as of 2015).

The U.S. Department of Education awards more than $120 billion a year in grants, work-study funds, and low-interest loans to more than 13 million students. Federal student aid covers such expenses as tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, and transportation. Aid also can help pay for other related expenses, such as a computer and dependent care. Colleges may also offer their own loans, known as “institutional aid,” which may be funded by the college's resources, alumni, corporations, foundations, donors, and other sources. Scholarships are also available through the school, companies, organizations, studios, and more.

Scholarship opportunities for animators are plentiful, but competitive. Several types are available such as scholarships specifically for animators and scholarships for the broader group—artists. Scholarships are often awarded through companies, organizations, studios, and colleges and universities. Some examples include The Women in Animation (WIA) Scholarship, the Nickelodeon Animation Scholarship, The Savannah College of Art and Design’s Animation Pegbar Endowed Scholarship, Warner Bros. Animation Reach Honorship Program, Sony Pictures Imageworks’ Sande Scoredos Memorial Scholarship, and Walt Disney Company Scholarships.

If you would like to learn filmmaking and animation, some film schools, such as The Los Angeles Film School, offer the opportunity. However, many programs at art schools, colleges, and universities combine the two disciplines into one program or they make it easy for students to do it on their own through minors, certificates, double majors and electives. Schools that offer film/animation programs include Rhode Island School of Design, University of California Los Angeles, School of Visual Arts, Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Utah, California Institute of the Arts, University of North Carolina, Fairleigh Dickinson University, and George Fox University, to name a few.

Some of the best art schools for animators are California Institute of the Arts, Ringling College of Art and Design, Rhode Island School of Design, School of Visual Arts, Savannah College of Art and Design, ArtCenter College of Design, California College of Arts, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, The University of the Arts, Otis College of Art and Design, Columbus College of Art and Design, Maryland Institute College of Art, Laguna College of Art and Design, College for Creative Studies, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Kansas City Art Institute, and School of the Art Institute of Chicago.