Sadly this comic reflects the respect an art degree seems to get. Clearly people are not reading enough Daniel Pink, who writes that the MFA is the new MBA. Four reasons highlight how valuable the MFA is to the business world (and I argue the same is true for a BFA):

1. How to take criticism. In a writing workshop, each writer must remain silent while others discuss his work. This rule allows him to hear what people say, rather than distracting himself by preparing his defense. Train yourself to listen openly to all criticism. Then wait until you’ve had a chance to reflect before deciding which suggestions to follow and which to ignore.

2. What motivates people. Everyone’s mix of motives is unique and complex. The more you can intuit the secret desires that drive a person (whether a fictional character or a colleague or your boss), the better you can predict what she’s going to do next. If you figure out what motivates the people who report to you, you’ll be able to tailor incentives for each individual.

3. How to engage your audience. Good fiction writers know how to involve readers in acts of collaborative imagination. Readers like to be challenged — part of the pleasure is guessing the murderer’s identity before being told — but if they can’t follow the plot, they get frustrated. Companies competing in the experience economy need to get this balance right. Customers, like readers, do not like to be bored or confused. They like to feel smart and creative and listened to. That’s one reason companies that involve their customers in idea generation, like Dell, Staples, and BMW, rate highly in customer loyalty.

Knowing how to keep your team engaged is an important skill for all managers, but it’s critical if you want to succeed at innovation. Again, involving team members in the creative process is the key.

4. When to let go of good ideas. Or, as writers like to say, kill your darlings. An idea may be great on its own, but if it doesn’t serve your larger venture, you have to be ruthless and cut it. Brilliant but misplaced ideas can derail a project or keep you from seeing bigger, better solutions. It can be almost impossible to recognize your own darlings. Writers have editors to point them out. In the business world, look for honest feedback from colleagues you trust.

Starting point: BA in art or BFA?

To be or not to be is not the question: BA or BFA is the real one. What’s the difference?
The Bachelor of Fine Arts (in art) is considered the professional training program whereas the Bachelor of Arts (in art) is more open ended, general education. BFA is specifically building skills, whereas the BA aims to provide the student with a broad range of knowledge in the arts, humanities, and sciences as well as art. In NASAD’s own words “the professional degree focuses on intensive work in the visual arts supported by a program of general studies,” whereas “the liberal arts degree focuses on art and design in the context of a broad program of general studies.”
Comparing BFA in Art BA in Art

Portfolio

BFA: Usually required
BA: Usually not required

Art courses

BFA: between 60 and 70 percent
BA: 40 to 50 percent

General ed

BFA: 20 to 25 percent
BA: 60 to 65 percent

Double major?

BFA: Not Possible
BA: Possible

Minor?

BFA: Not likely
BA: possible

Professionally viewed?

BFA: Yes
BA: No, but you could do a masters

Career in art

BFA: Yes
BA: Possible (more education/luck)

See AICAD for more in depth discussion

What is the major?

Collegeboard offers up definitions:

For some views from the insider, student revies offers:

What is Graghic Design — Really?

For the UK, see the fact sheets.

RISD offers a wonderful youtube channel profiling their faculty and freshman experiences.

OTIS college has a wonderful playlist as well.
Original videos from Otis College of Art and Design. Demonstrations of artistic techniques, short docs on visiting artists and designers, general Otis Life and more…

Emily Carr University of Art + Design was founded in 1925 and is one of British Columbia’s oldest post-secondary institutions and one of the world’s leading arts institutions.

Goldsmiths College, university of London.

SCAD as a diverse playlist.

Daniel Pink gave a commencement speech at Minneapolis College of Art and Design’s 2008 graduation.

Courses

Intro to Drawing from Penn State U
Intro to Web design north Virginia College
Arts and its history at the open university
Practice of art at the UC Berkeley
Art history in just a minute podcast
Art of Photography podcast
Design and designing at the open university

research tools:

USA:
• National Portfolio Day Association (NPDA):
• Association of Independent colleges of art and design:
• Should I study in a specialty art school or an art department in a larger
university? Great insight offered by AICAD
• National Association of Schools of Art and Design: http://nasad.artsaccredit.
org/

UK:
• UCAS: Read before you apply–Art and Design
• British Council Fact sheets: Art and design (pdf, 98KB) Fashion
design (pdf, 197KB) Performing arts (pdf, 222KB)
• quality reviews: at UNISTATS

Australia:
• Art Education Australia
• Film and TV: Excellence in Australia

Europe:
• The European League of Institutes of the Arts,

Canada:
Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design key things to consider when searching for an art program:

Sharpen your focus: decide what you would like to study. List specifics regarding conditions and environments you seek; prioritize your requirements.
Start your inquiry process in enough time to collect the information you will need to make informed choices based on your decisions and priorities.
Design questions that will help you to find out if an institution offers what you seek.
Acquire and study the printed information available from institutions that interest you.
Ask questions of people at institutions and in your community.
Prepare to meet portfolio and entrance requirements.
Visit institutions. Meet potential major teachers. Consider all factors.
Include your possibilities for artistic and intellectual growth.
Understand your commitments and responsibilities if you enroll.
Enjoy the process. Consider it a voyage of discovery.

Source:

Advice on preparing your portfolio:
by Kevin Buck http://www.artschools.com/articles/portfolio/

Example Emily Carr University of Art and Design:

Example Parsons Art School Portfolio Requirements:
Example Pratt Institute Admissions:
Example FIT Homepage:
Many schoolas participate in National Portfolio days:

Books:
Arco the Performing Arts Major’s College Guide (Performing Arts Major’s College Guide)
Creative Colleges : A Guide for Student Actors, Artists, Dancers, Musicians and Writers
(Paperback) by Elaina Loveland
Peterson’s College Guide for Visual Arts Majors 2008

A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink
Read Daniel Pink’s blog:
Read David Gran’s excellent art blog:

Here are my favourite books at Amazon for art schools:

Summer Programs
• OTIS:
• RISD:
• Explore Architecture (many campuses):

Best places to study?

Rankings of Art Schools and Colleges

America’s Best Architecture and Design Schools (2009)

US News & World Report: Fine Arts Rankings, Tools, and Articles

StudentsReview.com: Top Creative Schools

PhDs.org - Rank Art History programs based on your own criteria

US News & World Report: Unranked Specialty Schools for Fine Arts and Performing Arts (2009)

Mary Rayme has taken the US news unranked list and added some bullet points.

Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, Maryland

Accreditation: Middle State Association of College & Schools Commission on Higher Education, National Association of Schools of Art & Design
$29,700 for one full year
Recent visiting artists: David Byrne, Odd Nerdrum, Ben Katchor, Barry Levinson, Ishmael Reed.
This writer is biased toward this school as both grandfathers attended when it was a drafting school, and this writer graduated from MICA in 1988. This art school is considered somewhat traditional in that it stresses learning to draw academically from nude models and life. This top notch art education will give you the problem-solving skills and discipline you need to conquer the world and find a job. MICA also cares about artists learning to write and has an incredible English Department faculty who will teach you how to write like a pro. Visit MICA to see if this funky, urban campus is for you.
www.mica.edu

Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island

While this is the priciest school on the list, RISD also has the best reputation, especially as a school for industrial designers.
$32,858 for one full year
Recent visiting artists: Alexander Isley, Joyce Scott, James Rosenquist
Accreditation: American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB), National Association of Schools of Art & Design (NASAD), National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC), New England Association of Schools & Colleges (NEASC)
www.risd.edu

Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, Ohio

This art school was originally named the Western Reserve School of Design for Women.
Recent visiting artists: Joyce Scott, Dale Chihuly, Mark Olitsky, Moe Brooker, Sam Gilliam, Elizabeth Murray
$28,100 for one full year
Accreditation: North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and is also a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design and the Northeast Ohio Council on Higher Education.
www.cia.edu

Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri

Some of this art school’s famous attendees include the animator Walt Disney and painter Robert Rauschenberg.
Recent visiting artists: Chip Kidd, Marilyn Stokstad
$27,220 for one full year
Accreditation: Higher Learning Commission, a commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.
www.kcai.edu

School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Notable alumni of this art school include Thomas Hart Benton, Leon Golub, Edward Gorey, Halston, Hugh Hefner, Jeff Koons, Bill Mauldin, Elizabeth Murray, Joan Mitchell, Georgia O’Keefe, Klaes Oldenburg, and Grant Wood.
Recent visiting artists: Jim Elkins, Vito Acconci, Enzo Mari
$32,550 for one full year
Accreditation: North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, National Association of Schools of Art and Design. The School’s Art Education program is certified by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), and shares reciprocity with most states in the United States. Its Art Therapy program is approved by the Education and Approval Board of the American Art Therapy Association.
www.saic.edu

Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, California

Distinguished alumni include: Edith Head, Philip Guston and Robert Irwin.
Recent visiting artists: Dave Hickey, Marsha TuckerAccreditation: The Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, The National Association of Schools of Art and Design.
$28,346 for one full year
www.otis.edu

California College of the Arts, San Francisco, California

Notable alumni include Manuel Neri and Robert Arneson.
Recent visiting artists: Hans Haacke, Catherine Wagner, Chip Lord, Amy Balkin, Yvonne Rainer
Accreditation: Western Association of Schools and Colleges, National Association of Schools of Art and Design, the National Architectural Accrediting Board, and the Council for Interior Design Accreditation.
$29,280 for one full year
www.cca.edu

Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Recent visiting artists: Robert Colescott, Alexander Isley, James Elkins, Lisa Yuskavage and Vito Aconcci.
Accreditation: National Association of Schools of Art and Design and the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. The Architecture Program is accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board.
$22,270 out of state
$12,398 in state
Tyler School of Art is the bargain on this list, and also is a part of Temple University.
www.temple.edu/tyler

Corcoran College of Art and Design, Washington DC

www.corcoran.edu
Recent visiting artists: Sam Gilliam, Larry Fink
Accreditation: Middle States Commission on Higher Education
$25,890 for one full year
The Corcoran Gallery of Art is a fine museum amongst a sea of fine museums in Washington DC.
www.corcoran.org/index.asp

Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York

Notable alumni include Dave Berg (Cartoonist for Mad Magazine), Jules Feiffer, Eva Hesse, Robert Mapplethorpe, George Lois, Harvey Fierstein, Ellsworth Kelly, Peter Max, Beverly Pepper, Paul Rand, Robert Redford Robert Sabuda, Max Weber and Rob Zombie.
Accreditation: Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, the Foundation for Interior Design Education Research, and the National Architectural Accreditation Board.
$29,900 for one full year
www.pratt.edu