Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design
historyThe Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD) is a non-profit consortium of thirty-six of the leading degree-granting art colleges in the United States. All AICAD member institutions have a curriculum with full liberal arts and sciences requirements complimenting studio work, and are accredited to grant the BFA and/or MFA degrees. To qualify for AICAD membership, an art school must satisfy three threshold requirements: specialization in art or design; grant the BFA and/or MFA degree; and have dual accreditation of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) and the academic accrediting organization in their region. Member colleges must be private, nonprofit and free-standing--that is, not a department of a larger college or university.
AICAD was founded in 1991 by a group 25 presidents of art colleges for the purpose of developing and strengthening their schools and programs. The mission is to help strengthen the member colleges individually and collectively, and to inform the public about these colleges and the value of studying art and design. An essay on this topic is available on the organization's website »AICAD - Career Information.
The organization distributes information about AICAD and its members, and about art and design education and careers, to potential students, parents, teachers, and others, conducts regular conferences and symposia on contemporary academic and administrative subjects, operates an independent studio and internship program in New York City ( the New York Studio Program ), oversees student exchanges and mobility among the member schools, gathers and analyzes institutional data to assist in future planning efforts. It also provides members with information about current art and design education issues as well as information on relevant legislation and government policies.
AICAD's members are:
- Art Academy of Cincinnati
- Art Center College of Design
- The Art Institute of Boston
- California College of the Arts
- California Institute of the Arts
- Cleveland Institute of Art
- College for Creative Studies
- Columbus College of Art and Design
- Cooper Union
- Corcoran College of Art and Design
- Cornish College of the Arts
- Kansas City Art Institute
- Laguna College of Art and Design
- Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts
- Maine College of Art
- Maryland Institute College of Art
- Massachusetts College of Art and Design
- Memphis College of Art
- Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design
- Minneapolis College of Art and Design
- Montserrat College of Art
- Moore College of Art and Design
- Oregon College of Art and Craft
- Otis College of Art and Design
- Pacific Northwest College of Art
- Parsons The New School for Design
- Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
- Pennsylvania College of Art and Design
- Pratt Institute
- Rhode Island School of Design
- Ringling College of Art and Design
- San Francisco Art Institute
- School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- School of Visual Arts
- University of the Arts
AICAD also has seven international affiliates:
- Alberta College of Art and Design
- Burren College of Art
- Emily Carr University of Art and Design
- Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University
- Ontario College of Art and Design
- Osaka University of Arts
- Victorian College of the Arts
- »AICAD website
- »New York Studio Program website
- »National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD)
Regional accrediting agencies:
- »Middles States Commission on Higher Education
- »New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)
- »North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
- »Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
- »Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)
- »Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)