What Savannah College of Art and Design is like

What it's like

SCAD is a large, internationally-oriented art and design college with a global footprint. The school enrolls over 17,000 students (nearly a quarter of them international) across Savannah, Atlanta, and a study location in France. Founded in 1978 as a specialized professional art school, it has grown into a major institution recognized for design education and ranked among the top art schools in the U.S. The campuses blend historic Southern architecture—Savannah's downtown grid of 67 restored buildings, live oaks, and Southern-Gothic atmosphere—with contemporary art facilities and studios.

Academic feel

SCAD is structured around eleven schools offering degrees from bachelor's through master's level in fine arts, architecture, design, and related disciplines. The curriculum spans industrial design, fashion design, UX design, architecture, interior design, and game development, among other specializations. The school operates extensive studio facilities, libraries, and museums including the SCAD Museum of Art and SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film. It also supports research across political science (123 works), artificial intelligence (78 works), literature (69 works), archaeology (66 works), mathematics (63 works), and physics (60 works) according to published scholarship. U.S. News & World Report ranks SCAD No. 6 in Best Undergraduate Teaching and No. 2 in Most Innovative Schools, while it holds the top design university ranking in the Americas and Europe according to the Red Dot Design Award Rankings.

Social life

The student body is large and globally diverse, with international enrollment at 25.4 percent and students from all 50 states and over 110 countries. The school hosts signature annual events including the Savannah Film Festival, Sidewalk Arts Festival, Fashion Show, SCAD Style, deFine Art Festival, and Art Educators' Forum. Campus life is distributed across multiple locations with extensive residence hall options in Savannah and Atlanta. SCAD has made efforts to address inclusivity: in 2020 it created an office of inclusion and added 15 endowed scholarships for Black students. Mental health support was expanded in 2019 with the launch of Bee Well, offering virtual and physical counseling, wellness workshops, and a 24/7 emotional support hotline.

What you should consider

Students drawn to specialized, practice-intensive art and design study thrive at SCAD. The school attracts design-focused learners internationally and offers a campus environment centered entirely on art and creative disciplines. Those seeking strong studio facilities, professional-level instruction, and pathways into design industries—fashion, industrial design, architecture, game development, animation—find substantial resources and networks. The school's emphasis on undergraduate teaching and innovation also suits students seeking engaged, hands-on instruction.

Strengths

• Ranked No. 1 design university in the Americas and Europe by Red Dot Design Award Rankings in 2025, with students and graduates winning 23 individual Red Dot awards and three Best of the Best awards.[1]
• Ranked No. 1 Best Art School in the U.S. by Art & Object magazine and No. 1 in Forbes' Best Colleges Shaping the Future of Fashion.[1]
• Named the top interior design school by Architectural Digest and ranked a top 13 Art and Design university in the world by QS World University Rankings.[1]
• U.S. News & World Report ranks SCAD No. 6 in Best Undergraduate Teaching and No. 2 in Most Innovative Schools.[1]
• Campus includes 67 restored historic buildings throughout downtown Savannah and has been recognized by the American Institute of Architects, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Historic Savannah Foundation, and Victorian Society of America for preservation efforts.[1]
• Operates three libraries with extensive collections including the Jen Library housing 42,000 books and rare collections such as the Don Bluth Collection of Animation and Newton Collection of British and American Art.[1]
• Plans announced in April 2021 to expand film and digital media studios to create the largest college movie studio in the country with a new digital stage and three soundstages on a 10.9-acre backlot.[1]

Weaknesses

• School faced significant institutional challenges in the late 1980s and early 1990s with a rash of faculty suicides and subsequent student unrest, including student petitions for better mental health services and two suicides at the beginning of the 2018 academic year.[1]
• Questions have been raised about unusual pay packages for leadership, with Paula Wallace receiving $9.6 million in compensation in 2014 and 13 family members receiving $60 million in total compensation over 20 years.[1]

Traditions

• SCAD hosts annual signature events including the Savannah Film Festival, Sidewalk Arts Festival, Fashion Show, SCAD Style, deFine Art Festival, Art Educators' Forum, and Rising Star.[1]