13 Best Graphic Design Schools in California
Are you based on the West Coast and looking to study graphic design? Pursuing a graphic design career in 2026 is an excellent choice, with more design studios than ever before looking for quality talent to meet client demands.
To help you decide between your options, we’ve compiled a list of the top design schools in California to learn the essential skills you need to become a successful graphic designer.
Most of these schools will take you on the traditional college or university education journey. But is there another way to be an industry ready designer in months, not years?
(Spoiler: we know there is, and Shillington’s got the graduate success stories to prove it).
1. Shillington Education
Location: Online
Course Duration: 3 months full time or 9 months part time
Cost: $10,000 USD
Shillington’s graphic design course covers everything you need to become an industry-ready designer with a stand-out portfolio, ready to apply your skills in the real world from the moment you graduate.
From design theory to design programs, learn through live online classes run by experienced, practicing designers before immediately applying your skills in a studio environment.
And, this all happens in just three months full-time or nine months part-time.
If you’re wondering whether you need a degree to be a graphic designer, the truth is, you don’t. There’s no denying a degree can help, but there are alternatives, and Shillington’s Graphic Design Course has 30 years of student case studies proving it’s possible.
Hear from our grads
2. California Institute of The Arts (CalArts)
Location: Santa Clarita
Course Duration: 4 Years
Estimated cost of attendance: $310,000–$340,000 before aid
CalArts is commonly known for being one of the best design schools in California if you’d like to know how to learn graphic design.
The school was founded by Walt Disney and his brother Roy. Disney envisioned a multidisciplinary arts community, grounded in the real-life experience of working artists instead of the structured and sometimes detached principles of an academy.
They wanted to merge disciplines and encourage cross-collaboration to create new ideologies and creative methods. This all came to fruition in 1971 when CalArts opened its doors. The current-day culture of the school focuses on inclusivity and diversity in the thoughts and demographic makeup of its students.
They aim to represent a colourful mix of socio-economic and culturally creative individuals. With admissions decided primarily on artistic merit and creative promise, CalArts pride themselves on the creation of an intimate creative environment.
This features individually assigned faculty mentors (who are all practicing professional artists) for students throughout their time at the institute. Including Graphic Design—the California Institute of the Arts has six schools which offer comprehensive degree programs across the arts.
3. ArtCenter College of Design
Location: Pasadena
Course Duration: 3-4 Years
Estimated cost of attendance: $275,000–$355,000 before aid
Started by Edward A. 'Tink' Adams in 1930, the former advertising executive had radical ideas around education, with the vision of up-skilling artists and designers by equipping them with real world skills.
Fast-forward to the current day, part of their original mission holds true. Now one of the top design schools in CA, they're still a college focused on developing leaders and innovators in the creative sphere. They offer undergraduate and postgraduate degrees as well as trans-disciplinary programs and tangible maker-spaces.
ArtCenter offers a comprehensive course to prepare you for a career in design.
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4. Otis College of Art and Design
Location: Los Angeles
Course Duration: 4 Years
Estimated cost of attendance: $290,000–$340,000 before aid
Established in 1918, Otis College of Art and Design is one of many design colleges that aim to educate their students by equipping them with practical and global focused-lens—to empower them to shape the world through their creative careers. Adding to its prestige, it holds the title being L.A.’s oldest private art school.
With a proactive and playful ethos, their curriculum encourages their students to actively engage in the world around them: make, play and experiment. The college is grounded in the culture and resources of the Los Angeles city community ‘Where dreams meet discipline’.
Their four year BFA in Graphic Design empowers students to achieve the highest level of design excellence. Students will have the opportunity to develop their skills to deliver effective visual communication across a wide variety of applications.
5. Laguna College of Art and Design (LCAD)
Location: Laguna Beach
Course Duration: 4 Years
Estimated cost of attendance: $240,000–$275,000 before aid
Amongst other graphic design schools in California, Laguna College of Art and Design was founded in 1961—and emerged from a thriving community of creative culture in Laguna Beach.
The college emerged in the early 1900s where the brainpower and influence of artists, intellectuals and entertainers pioneered cultural ventures which culminated in the formation of the college. Laguna has expanded significantly since its founding and now offers undergraduate, graduate, minors and post-baccalaureate programs.
Their current design education hones in on the preparation of their students to become bold and innovative designers—who embrace innovation and technology. They nod to their roots by continuing to foster the cultural and community aspects of the creative practice by sharing resources with the broader community and holding exhibition programs.
LCAD boasts some notable industry partners, including Disney, DreamWorks and Sony, making it an attractive choice for prospective students.
6. University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)
Location: Los Angeles
Course Duration: 4 Years
Estimated cost of attendance: CA resident: $170,000–$200,000 before aid Non-resident: $300,000–$340,000 before aid. Families earning under $80,000/year pay no tuition.
Named 'one of America's leading public research universities,' UCLA offers a Bachelor of Arts in Design | Media Arts (DMA), although it's important to know upfront that this isn't a traditional graphic design degree.
Under the umbrella of The School of the Arts and Architecture (UCLA Arts), it instead offers a hybrid, interdisciplinary programme that integrates design, media, technology, and culture, with computers and digital tools central to the curriculum throughout.
Like other design schools in the state, entry to the course can be competitive, with admission based on a combination of creative talent (in the form of a portfolio of creative work) and academic achievement. They also keep studios small, with most capped at around 22 students
The larger campus also builds upon the internal creative community in UCLA with the school's public arts institutions like The Hammer and Fowler Museums which bring performance, art and culture together in collaboration and celebration.
7. University of Southern California (USC) Roski
Location: Los Angeles
Course Duration: 4 Years
Estimated cost of attendance: $350,000–$380,000 before aid. Free tuition for domestic first-year undergraduates from families earning $80,000 or less
One of the oldest art colleges in California, USC's first art school was founded in 1895. USC's BFA in Design offers an open approach that allows their students to explore and diverge in their design education throughout the four year course.
Part of a trio of undergraduate degrees under USC Roski—the design course is an intensive program that immerses the student in design media. A combination of studio courses in tandem with theory seminars, critique studios, capstone courses and senior thesis projects round off Roski’s design education.
Being one of the top graphic design schools in the state, students also have the option to extend their degree through optional courses that include professional internships and international art study tours led by faculty. High-achieving students can also progress to an advanced degree in their junior year.
Admission is relatively extensive and requirements include a portfolio, artist statement, list of creative accomplishments and record of academic transcripts and test scores.
8. San Diego State University (SDSU)
Location: San Diego
Course Duration: 4 Years
Estimated cost of attendance: CA resident: $140,000–$160,000 before aid Non-resident: $195,000–$220,000 before aid.
Priding themselves on community-engagement and cutting edge technology, SDSU similarly offers a four year BA in Design that cycles through a number of core studios in design fundamentals, progressively introducing conceptual skills across a wide range of media.
The college centres on diversity and capitalises on its location at the border of Mexico and the Pacific Rim—to provide an experimental and multicultural environment for students to develop their creative practice. The community focus of the college is highlighted in the opportunity to interact with real-world design problems and briefs in junior and senior years of study.
The program then culminates in the final year with the creation of a professional portfolio that aims to prepare the student for entry-level positions in graphic design.
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9. California State Polytechnic, University Pomona
Location: Pomona
Course Duration: 4 Years
Estimated cost of attendance: CA resident: $110,000–$135,000 before aid Non-resident: $170,000–$200,000 before aid.
A rare college commodity—Cal Poly Pomona is one of a small number of polytechnic universities in the whole of the US. As a result of this, the college is known for its hands-on, “learn-by-doing” philosophy. All faculties encompass the wider college ethos of problem-solving centred learning.
Theory is applied to practice and students have the opportunity to collaborate in research and participate in internships and service learning programs—all within a focused and intimate learning environment with an average undergraduate class size of twenty-six students.
Being one of the most well respected design universities in CA, the four year course offers students a wide range of visual communication based problems and creative briefs. Students will develop creative skills in a variety of projects from typography to motion graphics and packaging design. Due to the unique location of the university a wide variety of internships are available for high-achieving students.
10. Academy of Art University (AAU)
Location: San Francisco
Course Duration: 4 Years
Estimated cost of attendance: $240,000–$300,000 before aid
Originally established in 1929 as an academy of advertising art, Academy of Art University (AAU) is now one of the largest schools of art and design in the US. The graphic design program looks to integrate art and commerce by grounding learnings through briefs in commercial and global applications.
AAU's course takes the student through a thorough skill-development process through a wide variety of design applications like typography, packaging, branding, print and user experience etc. The design faculty is made up of nationally recognised professionals who uphold the academy values of ‘support through collaboration’ and ‘personal and professional integrity’.
Despite being one of the top graphic design colleges in the state, admissions are less competitive than other schools with a 'no barrier' motto. Their programme also offers flexibility, being available online or on-campus.
11. San Jose State University (SJSU)
Location: San Jose
Course Duration: 4 Years
Estimated cost of attendance: CA resident: $135,000–$160,000 before aid Non-resident: $190,000–$220,000 before aid.
The Department of Design at San Jose State University aims to take advantage of the university's proximity to Silicon Valley, with a mission to shape the next generation of 'social, political and environmental innovators'. They describe themselves as a community of 'creative technologists'.
The school sees design as a transformative practice that can be used to create positive change in the world. Like other schools on this list, the course is focused on offering real-world and practical design experiences that will prepare students to find their place in the broader design community and world.
With an emphasis on co-curricular activities in tandem with foundational design course content—they hope to prepare their students with extra skills like leadership, communication and emotional intelligence. That when combined, will give their students an edge when entering the professional sphere.
12. Loyola Marymount University (LMU)
Location: Los Angeles
Course Duration: 4 Years
Estimated cost of attendance: $340,000–$380,000 before aid
Loyola Marymount's diverse graphic design program looks to engage their emerging designers in an intersection of history, technology and community-based collaboration. They draw on the rich creative landscape of Los Angeles and perpetuate the wider college focus on social justice and the realisation of social change.
The course centres its content on a human-centred approach—pushing their students to create and design solutions with global reach and impacts in mind.
The four year program is also 'exhibition-oriented'—taking advantage of the school's resident art gallery which offers students the opportunity to exhibit their work throughout the academic year in a variety of shows.
13. Chapman University
Location: Orange
Course Duration: 4 Years
Estimated cost of attendance: $340,000–$380,000 before aid
Chapman University first opened their doors in 1861 and was established with an open and inclusive ethos, with their first class including women and people of different ethnicities and faiths.
This dedication to diversity has persisted to the current day, where they strive to continue to offer a comprehensive education in the Department of Art. Their course looks to deliver a well-rounded design education with a strong belief in the synthesis of traditional, practical and current design methodologies in shaping a student's contemporary practice.
Chapman's program offers opportunities for travel, internships and idea exchange, in the form of an annual symposium that deals with current-day design issues.
At Shillington we believe that anyone has the potential to become a graphic designer, and our inclusive course accepts anyone from anywhere—no creative or academic proof necessary. No experience required. If you’re ready to dive into design right now—hear from our global graduates and find out more.
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