MIAD claims top animation program in Wisconsin

Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design has been named the 2023 #1 Animation School in Wisconsin by the Animation Career Review. The college was also honored to be named as one of the top 25 Animation Schools in the Midwest. MIAD’s Animation track, part of the Illustration major, is a new program that launched in fall 2021.

Animation Career Review uses a set of robust criteria to evaluate animation programs across the country, which include employment data, graduation and retention rate and value of the college. In its twelfth year of ratings, the publication surveyed nearly 200 colleges and universities nationwide to obtain data for 2023 selections.

“When we wrote the curriculum for the Animation Track, it was with the intention to create a program that met the needs of the design, marketing, and advertising markets beginning with Milwaukee, and extending outward,” says Steven Hansen, Vice President of Academic Affairs at MIAD. “The fact that our focus is not primarily on film sets us apart from many other programs. Animations are used in an array of media, social media, websites, and marketing applications, and we focused our program on those.”

Growing out of an established and highly-ranked Illustration program, students in the Animation track can expect a structured, hands-on experience with a variety of animation approaches, as well as the freedom to choose a speciality that deeply aligns with their personal passions. MIAD focuses on a student-centric experience where “each student is precious, class sizes are small, and faculty want students to succeed,” Hansen adds.

Read more about the Animation Career Review rankings and learn about MIAD’s Animation track!