The Ringling College of Art and Design

Date: Apr 12 2006
Major: Design Arts - Industrial Design/Graphic Design/etc (This Major's Salary over time)
Ringling promises many things they cannot, and did not keep. The biggest broken promise is the one of job placement after graduation. Prospective students are promised a 85-99% placement the first year after graduationa and that is completely false and misleading. The career services there consist of 2 people, two very busy people with little time to devote to individuals. After graduation, wide eyed and eager students are heading into a highly competitive job market unaware how hard it is to land a job because of false information given to them by the school. They are under the impression that the sight of "Ringling School of Art and Design" on their resume will drastically improve their chances of getting a job, when in reality that thought is dangerously wrong. It took me years after graduation to get a job in a creative field, and I've yet to get one with good pay. Ringling will say what they need to, and continues to do so simply to "capture" new students. They seems to know that although we (artists) love what we do, we are all still afraid of being a "starving artist". They know this, so they tell you what you want to hear as a meager attempt to calm your fears. If you choose to attend Ringling, be aware that getting a job after graduation is completely up to you, and is VERY difficult.