Cogswell Polytechnical College is located in Sunnyvale, California. Its mission is to provide higher education opportunities in an environment that fuses art and engineering. One program offered here is a bachelor's degree in digital art and animation. One of four concentrations in the major is in 3D animation. Some of the courses offered in this concentration include character rigging, drawing animation and introduction to 3D animation principles. The program emphasizes character animation, experimental animation and the use of traditional and computer animation techniques. In their senior year, students are required to put together a short animated work.
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, located in downtown Chicago, offers animation instruction in its Department of Film, Video, New Media and Animation. Animation can be studied at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Here, animation is studied with an artistic approach, including elements of film, new media and installation art. Various projects are undertaken as part of the program, including animated documentaries and experimental animation pieces. Courses specific to animation include puppet animation, drawing for animation and story-boarding and visualization.
The Rhode Island School of Design, in Providence, was founded in 1877. Today, one of its fine arts divisions is in film, animation and video. A four-year Bachelor of Fine Arts degree is offered in this field. The program is customizable and can be tailored to suit those specifically interested in animation. Throughout the program, works in experimental, narrative and documentary animation are created. Some of the courses offered include 3D computer generated imagery, stop-motion animation, studio animation and animation integration/installation.
The Ringling College of Art and Design is a private, non-profit college in Sarasota, Florida. It offers a bachelor's degree in computer animation. This four-year program teaches skills in modeling, lighting, motion and sound. Required courses in the curriculum include communication design, contextual figure, traditional animation, computer animation, history of animation and animation pre-production. The college allows students to use some of the leading equipment in the industry through its connections to software and hardware producers like Sony and Pixar. After graduation, the Center for Career Services aids students in finding a job in the field.