Rankings & Awards

Top Film School 2024

- Variety Magazine

One of only 15 accredited colleges that offer BA degrees in ASL-English Interpretation

Top 100 Best Fine Arts Graduate Program 2020

- US News & World Report
  • #1
    The World’s Best Music Schools 2023 - The Hollywood Reporter
  • #1
    Illustration School in Illinois 2023 - Animation Career Review
  • #2
    Visual Effects (VFX) School In the Midwest 2023 - Animation Career Review
  • #3
    College for Video Game Design 2020 - College Magazine
  • #4
    Animation School in the Midwest 2024 - Animation Career Review
  • #7
    Best Game Design Schools in the Midwest 2023 - Animation Career Review
  • #8
    Best Photography Schools in the U.S. 2022 - The Art Career Project
  • #8
    Most Innovative School in the Midwest 2021 - US News & World Report
  • #14
    Top U.S. Film Schools 2024 - The Hollywood Reporter
  • #15
    Top 50 Film Schools for 2024 - TheWrap.com

Alumni Awards

Aidy Bryant ’09 

is a mainstay on Saturday Night Live and has been nominated for two Emmys for her work on the legendary show.

  • Len Amato ’75 is the President of HBO Films and won a Primetime Emmy for Recount.
  • David Cromer won a Tony Award for Best Direction of The Band’s Visit.
  • Nick Drnaso ’11 is an American author and graphic novelist, best known for his books Beverly and Sabrina, the latter being the first graphic novel nominated for a Man Booker Prize in 2018.
  • Mauro Fiore ‘87 won an Oscar for Best Achievement in Cinematography for Avatar.
  • Tiffany Griffith ’92 won two Emmys for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series for her role as dialogue editor on Stranger Things.
  • Heather Gross ’97 won a Prime Time Emmy for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited Series, Movie or Special for her work as foley editor on the HBO series The Night Of.
  • Tonika Johnson ’03 was named 2017 Chicagoan of the Year for her social justice work through photography.
  • Janusz Kaminski ’87 is a cinematographer who won an Oscar for Shindler’s List and Amistad.
  • Christian Sprenger '07 won an Emmy in 2018 for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (Half-Hour) for his work on Atlanta.
  • Iliana Regan ’05 is writer and chef. In 2019 she received a National Book Award for her memoir, Burn the Place. Her restaurant, Elizabeth, was ranked #6 in Chicago’s Top 50 restaurants by Chicago Tribune.

Lena Waithe ’06

won an Emmy for Comedy Writing for a Television Series for Master of None, becoming the first African American woman to win the award. Time named her among the 100 most influential people of 2018

Faculty Awards

Photography Professor Dawoud Bey received a 2017 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, known as the “Genius Grant.”

Alex Fruchter, Business and Entrepreneurship assistant professor and producer, was recently named one of Chicago Tribune’s “Chicago Artists of the Year.”