School of DesignAnimation and Computer Graphics Bachelor's Degree
- BA
Interested in game art, animation, or visual effects? At Columbia, you’ll create animated and interactive projects using industry-standard software and cutting-edge technology to tell stories. You’ll dive into the history, aesthetics, and advanced techniques and choose a concentration that focuses on your area of interest, whether it be computer or traditional animation, CVFX, or game art. Through it all, you’ll learn how to employ a professional level of industry practices and career strategies that will help you showcase your work and land a job. Consistently ranked among the top animation schools in the Midwest, Columbia helps animation students bring their unique voice and aesthetic to their work, and best of all, employers want Columbia College Chicago grads.
The BA allows you to specialize within your area of animation interest and complete two animated films by your final year. Plan to apply directly to the Animation and Computer Graphics BA program? You’ll need to include some additional materials.
Examples of Computer Animation Careers
The Student Experience
The best artists constantly create. At Columbia, you’ll start animating in your first year. With practice, you’ll become more comfortable with the tools of the trade and develop a keen eye for storytelling. As a senior, you’ll collaborate with peers to create an animated film.
Early on, you’ll take courses that lay the foundations and establish context for your work as well as build virtual environments and create and animate CG characters as you learn as you learn on industry-standard software, toolsets, and platforms.
Our faculty members, many of whom have won awards for their own work, bring their in-depth knowledge of animation, game art, cinema, television, graphic novels, and illustration to the classroom.
Senior year, you’ll work on every aspect of a capstone project. You can work as the producer, director, editor, and every other role in between. You can also choose to work on your own solo projects.
For your senior year capstone project, supervise and be supervised in roles ranging from director to editor. First semester: pitch ideas to your team and choose a story together and create preproduction concept art, storyboards, and computer-generated (CG) assets. Second semester: Build and refine the film, presenting it in May at Manifest, Columbia’s annual urban arts festival that celebrates the amazing work of our graduating students.
Specialized classes and experience in Los Angeles allow our students direct engagement with industry professionals and studios, such as Nickelodeon, Warner Bros., DreamWorks, Cartoon Network, Disney, and others.
Career Readiness
Our graduates leave Columbia with portfolios to impress future employers, and you’ll them around the world working in major animation studios and showcasing their award-winning films at festivals.
Thanks to our Career Center and industry-connected faculty, Columbia Animation and Computer Graphics students have access to internships that put the real-world experiences from the classroom to work and provide experiences that will build your resume.
Our alumni hold jobs in Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and production studios around the world. They win Oscars and Emmys and work at companies like Disney, Pixar, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Warner Bros. Animation, DreamWorks Studios, Weta Digital, Bethesda, BioWare, Bungie, Microsoft, and more. Our Alumni Network is here to connect you to key people to support and guide you throughout your career in animation.
Alumni Spotlight
Autumn Scruggs ’20
Software engineer for Wizards of the Coast, where she has collaborated on Magic the Gathering: Arena.
of 2023 grads are employed, enrolled in continued education, or pursuing their creative practice.