Ringling College of Art and Design, founded in 1931, offers BFA and BA degrees in 13 disciplines. Renowned for innovation and top-ranked programs like Animation, Film, and Motion Design, it combines technical training with critical thinking and cultural awareness. The College prepares students for creative careers while fostering ethical, professional, and personal growth. Community engagement includes exhibitions, lectures, and outreach through its galleries and Sarasota Art Museum.
Since 1931, Ringling College of Art and Design has cultivated the creative spirit in students from around the globe. The private, not-for-profit, fully accredited college offers the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 11 disciplines and the Bachelor of Arts in two. The College’s rigorous curriculum employs the studio model of teaching and immediately engages students through a comprehensive program that is both specific to the major of study and focused on the liberal arts. The Ringling College teaching model ultimately shapes students into highly employable and globally aware artists and designers.
Ringling College is recognized as one of the most innovative visual arts colleges in the United States, as well as a leader in the use of technology in the arts. The College’s academic programs are consistently ranked among the top in the country and in the world. In 2024 alone, the College’s Motion Design program was ranked #1 in the world for motion graphics, and the #1 3D animation school in the U.S. for production excellence by The Rookies. Animation Career Review ranked the illustration program #1 in the South and #1 for graphic design in Florida. Ringling’s Film program has been consistently held a place as one of the Top 25 film schools in the country, ranked by The Hollywood Reporter, Variety Magazine, MovieMaker Magazine, and The Wrap.
Ringling College of Art and Design offers bachelor’s degree programs in 13 majors: Business of Art and Design, Computer Animation, Creative Writing, Entertainment Design, Film, Fine Arts, Game Art, Graphic Design, Illustration, Motion Design, Photography and Imaging, Virtual Reality Development, and Visual Studies.
Ringling College realizes visual arts and design professionals must understand diverse aspects of past and present cultures, and develop their capacity for creative expression and effective communication. Ringling’s curricula, therefore, balance the teaching of technical knowledge and skills with the development of critical, conceptual, and creative abilities and support courses that provide historical, multicultural, global, and future perspectives. Ringling’s faculty consists of professionally active and teaching-oriented artists, designers, and scholars.
Ringling College of Art and Design strives to enroll both full-time and part-time students from diverse backgrounds who intend to become professionals in the visual arts. Through its policies and practices, the College supports excellence in teaching and fosters the aesthetic, intellectual, professional, personal, and social development of its students. We focus on developing well-rounded students who are not only skilled artists but also ethical and equity-minded. Our students explore all aspects of diversity through creativity and self-expression. They practice cultural awareness and tackle challenging conversations and decisions that drive meaningful change.
Academic programs and advising, career services, and an extensive co-curricular student life program prepare students for an art or design profession, or when appropriate, for continued studies on the graduate level. In addition to its degree programs, Ringling College offers courses, lectures, exhibitions, and other art-related services to the local and regional community through its Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College, seven on-campus Galleries and Exhibitions, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Ringling College, the Ringling College TOWN HALL Lecture Series, and the Englewood Art Center.
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