Academy of Art University is a professional school. Our curriculum is practice-based and career-centered, which means you learn by doing what you’ll do in your future profession.
Whether you choose to study online, on campus (onsite), or a hybrid of both, you’ll have opportunities to gain the skills and experiences that will help you enter your profession in full stride.
Earning an accredited degree at the Academy includes opportunities to work with industry professionals, hours of on-air radio time, credits on hit movies and video games, kudos for work on national ad campaigns, and more.
Using urban San Francisco as their classroom, students from the School of Architecture get to participate in seeing their designs for non-profit clients actually get built. Students taking Architecture 498 work collaboratively, putting their skills to the test to engage real clients and communities, investigate real sites, and propose and build a gathering place for a grateful local community.
One important aspect of our curriculum is our facilities, which are stocked with the latest technology, software, and equipment. Keeping up with current advancements in technology and industry practices is essential to preparing you to enter the workforce.
Whatever the pros are doing and whatever the pros are using is what you will find in our classrooms and studios.
Academy of Art University is the first university in California, and the second company in California other than Skywalker Sound, to own the flagship mixing console, the Avid S6. With the Avid S6, music students get hands-on experience with the flagship mixing console.
Our onsite large format scanning and printing facilities allow students to create professional level graphic presentations. A control room for production and high-end transfers, along with Cintiq tablets, scanners, a large format printer, and other filming equipment are also available.
Students from all disciplines learn to use the latest professional equipment required to complete projects in myriad different media.
We also feature a well-stocked tool and equipment checkout area and a retail material sales area, making it easy to finish projects without driving to home supply centers.
Robot technology is rapidly advancing with applications in a number of disciplines. Architecture students take advantage of the robotics lab to conduct hands-on research exploring emerging methods of representation and fabrication within architecture and design.
The Library has a long-standing reputation for being a 'no-shush' zone. Our student artists and designers are encouraged to work together in a vibrant atmosphere where they can conduct visual research, collaborate, learn, and create.