Savannah College of Art and Design: The University for Creative Careers

The Savannah College of Art and Design, known as SCAD, is one of the most ambitious art and design universities in the world. Founded in 1978 by Paula Wallace and a small group of educators in a single restored building in Savannah's historic district, SCAD has grown into a global institution with campuses in Savannah, Atlanta, Hong Kong, and Lacoste, France, enrolling approximately 16,000 students and offering more than 100 degree programs across the full range of art, design, and creative disciplines. The scale of SCAD's growth is remarkable, and it reflects a distinctive institutional philosophy: that art and design education should be comprehensive, career-focused, and accessible to a wide range of students.

SCAD describes itself as "the university for creative careers," and this phrase captures something genuine about the school's approach. Where schools like RISD or Yale emphasize fine art practice and critical discourse, SCAD emphasizes professional preparation and career outcomes. The school tracks employment rates for graduates, maintains extensive industry partnerships, and designs its curriculum around the skills and knowledge that employers in creative industries actually want. This orientation makes SCAD a genuinely different kind of art school, and it is the right choice for students whose goals are professional rather than purely artistic.

The Range of Programs

SCAD's most distinctive feature is the sheer breadth of its program offerings. Students can study Animation, Illustration, Graphic Design, Fashion Design, Film and Television, Game Design, Industrial Design, Interior Design, Architecture, Photography, Painting, Sculpture, Sequential Art (comics and graphic novels), User Experience Design, and Visual Effects, among many others. This range means that students with almost any creative interest can find a program at SCAD, and the school's size means that each program has dedicated facilities, specialized faculty, and industry connections.

The Animation program is one of SCAD's strongest and most recognized, producing graduates who work at major studios including Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, and Sony Pictures Animation. The program covers both traditional and digital animation techniques, with state-of-the-art facilities and faculty who have worked in the industry.

The Sequential Art program is one of the few dedicated comics and graphic novel programs at any major art school, and it has produced graduates who work for Marvel, DC, and independent publishers, as well as artists who have developed significant independent practices.

The Game Design program reflects SCAD's responsiveness to emerging creative industries. The program covers game design, game development, and the intersection of art and technology that defines contemporary game production, and its graduates work at major game studios and independent developers.

The Savannah Campus

The main campus in Savannah, Georgia is one of the most beautiful urban campuses in the United States. SCAD has restored more than 70 historic buildings in Savannah's antebellum district, turning former warehouses, churches, and civic buildings into studios, galleries, libraries, and residence halls. The campus is not a traditional enclosed campus but a presence distributed throughout one of America's most architecturally significant cities, which means that students live and work in a genuinely historic urban environment.

Savannah itself is a city of considerable charm, with a walkable historic district, a strong restaurant and nightlife culture, and a growing arts scene that SCAD has significantly shaped. The city's relatively low cost of living compared to New York or Los Angeles means that students can maintain a reasonable quality of life without the financial pressure that characterizes study in more expensive cities.

The SCAD Museum of Art

The SCAD Museum of Art, opened in 2011 in a restored 1853 railroad depot, is one of the most architecturally striking museum buildings in the American South. The museum's collection focuses on contemporary art and design, with particular strengths in fashion, photography, and works on paper. The museum hosts major exhibitions, lectures, and events that connect students to the broader contemporary art world, and it functions as a genuine cultural institution for the city of Savannah as well as for the SCAD community.

Career Services and Industry Connections

SCAD's Career and Alumni Success office is one of the most active and well-resourced career services operations in art education. The school tracks employment outcomes for graduates and publishes data showing that the majority of SCAD graduates are employed in their field within six months of graduation. Industry partnerships with companies including Apple, Google, Nike, Disney, and hundreds of other major employers provide internship opportunities, portfolio reviews, and direct recruiting pipelines.

The school's SCADpro program connects students with real-world design challenges from major corporations, giving them experience working on actual professional projects before graduation. This kind of industry integration is unusual in art education and reflects SCAD's commitment to career preparation.

Tuition and Financial Aid

Tuition at SCAD for the 2025-26 academic year is approximately $42,120, which is notably lower than comparable private art schools like RISD, Pratt, or SAIC. This lower tuition, combined with SCAD's strong career outcomes, makes it a genuinely competitive value proposition for students focused on professional careers in creative industries.

SCAD offers merit scholarships, need-based financial aid, and a range of specialized awards for students with particular strengths or backgrounds. The school's financial aid office is active in helping students identify and apply for external scholarship opportunities.

The Bottom Line

SCAD is the right school for students who want comprehensive, career-focused art and design education in a beautiful historic setting, with strong industry connections and a wide range of program options. It is not the right school for students primarily interested in fine art practice or critical discourse for its own sake. For students who know they want to work in animation, game design, fashion, film, or other creative industries, SCAD's combination of professional preparation, industry connections, and lower tuition than comparable schools makes it one of the most compelling options in American art education.