School of the Art Institute of Chicago

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is one of America’s largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and “The Art Institute of Chicago” or “Chicago Art Institute” often refers to either entity. Providing degrees at the undergraduate and graduate levels, SAIC has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top graduate art programs in the nation, as well as by Columbia University’s National Arts Journalism survey as the most influential art school in the United States.

SAIC offers classes in art and technology; arts administration; art history, theory, and criticism; art education and art therapy; ceramics; fashion design; filmmaking; historic preservation; architecture; interior architecture; painting and drawing; performance; photography; printmaking; sculpture; sound; time arts (time-based media); video; visual communication; and writing. SAIC also serves as a resource for issues related to the position and importance of the arts in society.
SAIC has been accredited since 1936 by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design since 1944 (charter member), and by the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD) since its founding in 1991. It is accreditated by the National Architectural Accrediting Board, as well.

Its downtown Chicago campus consists of seven buildings located in the immediate vicinity of the AIC building. SAIC is in an equal partnership with the AIC and share many administrative resources such as design, construction, and human resources.

School of the Art Institute of Chicago Rankings

• GRAPHIC DESIGN SCHOOL RANKING
• TOP 100 FINE ARTS COLLEGE RANKING IN 2010

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

• Areas of focus
• Arts administration and policy
• Architecture, interior architecture and designed objects
• Art education
• Art history, theory, and criticism
• Art and technology studies
• Art therapy
• Ceramics
• Design for emerging technologies
• Fashion design
• Fiber and material studies
• Film, video, new media and animation
• Contemporary Practices (for undergraduate students only)
• Historic preservation
• Liberal arts
• Painting and drawing
• Performance
• Photography
• Printmedia
• Sculpture
• Sound
• Visual communication design
• Visual and critical studies
• Writing

School of the Art Institute of Chicago Tuition and Fees

TUITION 2010–11

Tuition for degree-seeking undergraduate students in degree courses:
$ 1,185 per credit hour

Tuition for Master and Certificate students:
$ 1,258 per credit hour

Tuition for Students at Large (SAL):
$1,185 per credit hour
Applicable to exchange students, SAL students, and other students enrolled in degree program courses through Continuing Studies. Degree program courses are not available on a non-credit or audit basis.

School of the Art Institute of Chicago News

• Details Magazine Calls Chicago America’s New Design Capital - Fri, 18 May 2012
  May 18, 2012—The May issue of Details magazine (circ. 461,108) hails Chicago as “America’s New Design Capital,” and SAIC’s upcoming AIADO and Fashion Graduate Exhibition at the Sullivan Galleries is featured as one of the “four main events” this summer. “Discover the city’s next-gen stars when SAIC unveils new work from its architecture, interiors, and [...]

• Popular SAIC Student Exhibition Travels from Milan to New York City - Thu, 17 May 2012
  May 17, 2012—Emerging designers from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) present new work at The Future Perfect Pop-Up Shop in NoHo May 19–June 8 during New York’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF). Their project, whatnot, premiered at Milan’s foremost independent design showroom, Spazio Rossana Orlandi, for the Salone Internazionale del Mobile (International Furniture Fair) in April. [...]

• Publication of Faculty Member Lewis Kostiner’s New Book Announced for Fall - Thu, 17 May 2012
  May 17, 2012—George F. Thompson Publishing (GFT) has announced the fall 2012 publication of SAIC faculty member Lewis Kostiner’s new book of photographs, Choosing Fatherhood: America’s Second Chance. A series of informative essays by public figures such as Fox News Juan Williams and Roland C. Warren, president of the National Fatherhood Initiative, accompany his images. [...]

• Faculty Member Chris Sullivan’s Film Premieres at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival - Wed, 16 May 2012
  May 16, 2012—On May 3 the Onion A.V. Club (circ. 380,361) covered SAIC Film, Video, New Media, and Animation faculty member Chris Sullivan and the 15-year quest behind the premiere of his feature drama Consuming Spirits at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival from April 18 to 29 in New York. The Huffington Post also covered [...]

• Alumna Cythia Rowley Featured in Tribune’s Sunday Magazine - Tue, 15 May 2012
  May 15, 2012—The Chicago Tribune (circ. 781,128) featured SAIC alumna and this year’s Legend of Fashion honoree Cynthia Rowley on its Sunday magazine cover May 6. Amid images of Rowley taken in SAIC’s Fashion Resource Center and the Sage Studios in Fashion Design, reporter Wendy Donahue includes Rowley’s story about selling her first collection to [...]

• Kate Dumbleton Formerly of the Chicago Jazz Ensemble to Join SAIC - Mon, 14 May 2012
  May 14, 2012—The May 10 edition of Chicago Tribune (circ. 425,370) reported that Kate Dumbleton, the former executive director of the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, will join SAIC as a full-time visiting artist in the fall. Tribune critic Howard Reich mentions in the article that Dumbleton will be “designing and leading an arts management studio for [...]

• Sony Electronics 3D Imaging Equipment Coming to SAIC Campus - Fri, 11 May 2012
  May 11, 2012—A new industry partnership between the Sony Digital Media Academy (SDMA) and the Earl and Brenda Shapiro Center for Research and Collaboration at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) will facilitate innovative and expressive applications of digital media technologies next fall on the largest school-museum campus in the United States. SAIC’s participation in [...]

• PBS Newshour Features SAIC Fashion Chair Nick Cave - Fri, 11 May 2012
  May 11, 2012—The influential national evening news program PBS Newshour featured SAIC Fashion Chair Nick Cave in an exclusive segment at the end of its April 24 broadcast. Cave says in an interview with veteran reporter Jeffrey Brown, “We tend to categorize something in its place in order for it to make sense; here I [...]

• SAIC Students, Alumni, and Faculty Collaborate with Senn High School Students - Thu, 10 May 2012
  May 10, 2012—On April 26 ChicagoNow blogger Hannah Lutz profiled a unique collaboration between students at Senn High School and SAIC graduate students, alumni, and faculty who have been working with Elizabeth Shank, founder of Good News Only gallery in Rogers Park. Sixty Inches from Center profiled the project on April 16, as well. The [...]

• New York Times Selects Alumnus’s Film as a Critic’s Pick - Wed, 09 May 2012
  May 9, 2012—The April 20 edition of the New York Times (circ. 1,645,152) featured a review of The Day He Arrives, the latest film by SAIC alumnus Hong Sang-soo (MFA 1989). Film Critic Manohla Dargis selected it for NYT Critic’s Picks and commends how the movie, about a main character wandering the streets of Seoul, [...]