Many schools offer traditional classroom instruction to meet your educational needs. For example, the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences offers a 30 week on-campus program, which covers 41 credit hours, and a required internship program, which lasts 12 weeks. Once completed, this program will allow the student an opportunity to obtain an entry level job in the audio and recording industry.
Other programs do not offer any classroom instruction. The student works one on one with a mentor in a studio. Students get hands-on experience in real-life studio situations, while still having the benefit of an instructor to help them overcome any struggles or obstacles. The graduate of this program can find jobs in post-production, multimedia or broadcasting.
In order to decide what recording engineering program is right for you, it is important to decide whether you want hands-on or classroom instruction. Another consideration is the availability of equipment. Whether you are in a hands-on or classroom setting, you need to make sure that enough equipment is available for the number of students that will be using it. The studios should also be technologically up to date.
There are many schools that offer two and four year programs in recording engineering. The largest of these is Indiana University at Bloomington. It offers a four-year degree and, as of February 2011, is home to 40,354 students. Next is American River College, which hosts 34,810 students and offers a two-year degree. Santa Ana College has 33,916 students and also offers a two-year degree program.