The Art Institute of Seattle

I would not recommend going to AIS at all. I was heavily recruited in 2006, decided to go, and had trouble from the start. They wouldn’t accept almost all of the credits I earned from community college, and in my first quarter I realized I could not go full time and work full time, so I dropped to part time. After three years of doing this I realized I still had a long way to go. I basically started college over again and was going part time. Not great. Also, I did not receive much guidance with financial aid and the debt I was accruing, but when I started to calculate it myself I couldn’t believe how much I was paying! The education was not worth the price. I will say I liked some of my teachers & met some great people. However this was not worth it for the price I was paying. I ended up transfering to CWU, which took almost all of my credits (thank goodness). The education I received there was worth it and I was able to get involved on campus. I am now paying back all of my loans and cannot afford to work in my field (interior design). Please do not go here, or at the very least make sure you realize how much you will pay once you graduate! They make it easy sounding when you are there but it is much different once you are working and paying bills.

The corporate owner of this for-​profit school was in the news again: The New York Times Oct. 12, 2015
«Consider the Education Management Corporation, which runs 110 schools in the United States for chefs, artists and other trades. It has been investigated or sued in recent years by prosecutors in at least 12 states. The Justice Department has accused the company of illegally using incentives to pay its recruiters. And last year, investors filed a class-​action lawsuit, contending that the company engaged in deceptive enrollment practices and manipulated federal student loan and grant programs.»
Think twice before getting entangled with an organization like this.

Sorry super long but if you have time please read.
The positives
All the professors were very professional and spent years working in their specific fields doing amazing things and would sometimes share stories with their students. Very forgiving too, 100% of my shots were static shots and the professors were like «ok.»
The school staff focused on and paid attention to the students, they wanted to make sure that the four-​year students stayed at their school. The school’s staff was very kind.
Tutoring is some of the best I’ve ever had.
I met some really nice people right away and after I took a break from taking film classes and took general classes I met some really nice people. When I began taking film classes again I was in a group that was fantastic.
When I left the school I was sent an email asking what the school could have done so I could afford to stay. I was also sent an email that said that soon the tuition cost would go down.
The Negatives
I was forced to live in a horrible state because my dad forced the family to move there. When I finally arrived in Washington state (my mom and boyfriend driving a U-​Haul in winter) I was so happy that I wanted to talk and meet other people. I was a bit loud during the orientation but mostly talked to my boyfriend but I think that labeled me as some show off to a group of students that I spent 90% of classes with.
This group would hear someone talk and label them a show off but then they would start talking and they were the only voices you would hear. If someone did a good job and got a complement they would complain but would smile with pleasure when someone made a mistake. They were the big fish in a small pond and then thought they would still be the big fish in the city? Who knows? I think at least one person in that group thought middle class or upper middle class was rich. One time one of the group asked a student what he did before he came to school and he said he was an intern at a law office and she got upset and started talking about how she was an intern for the BBC and other students got interested and started asking her questions and she said that she just went online. One time she was talking about how she didn’t have money to buy the books and only had a can of corn in her cupboard and my friend and I offered our books because we were done with them and she gave us a hate look. She talked about what her family was going through so maybe she had a lot to deal with. In one class a student said the head group members name like he had puke in his mouth.
I didn’t let them get to me and began reading books before class (it didn’t matter if I was friendly or tried to meet new people other students would look at me like I was crazy) and during breaks, I began taking general classes so hopefully the group would eventually run out of film classes. I also lasted the longest (a year) compared to other students and I believe that this group might have had an impact on a lot of students that left.
Two students (not part of the group) came from the same high school so I believe that the school recruits from small towns (not that there’s anything wrong with that), do two years, and then leave. The school is like a drive thru.
The events that finally made me leave began in communication class. A student talked about dealing with a family members death for her first communication assignment, she got a positive reaction and sympathy. Other students began talking about a death in the family after that in every assignment so that they could get a good grade and I found that sickening. I decided to drop the class but instead of the usual person who dropped my classes I was taken into the office where there was this angry guy, I thought «fudge it» and told the angry guy that I was leaving the school.
I attended The Art Institute of Seattle for wildlife cinematography. If that group and some other students attending the school are going to Hollywood then they can have Hollywood. What a rotten bunch of humanity.
I recommend that there be mandatory counseling classes for students, heck I could have even benefited from that.
This isn’t the only Art Institute that has this problem, a Unilocal reviewer wrote about how The Art Institute of Vancouver is full of high school drama.
P. S. Oh, and they made me take out a student loan and when I left the school I was informed that my loan was given to another company and I owed 18,000. I was blessed and was able to pay the full amount right away. I didn’t even ask for the loan or need it, if they ask you to take out a loan say no and if they don’t accept simply leave.
To the student in history class:
The day that you talked to me I was having a personal problem and didn’t want you to find out so I walked away without saying anything. I wanted to talk to you the last day of class but I wasn’t there. I tried to apologize on Facebook but couldn’t find you. I’m sorry that I walked away and didn’t say anything.

ZERO!!! I wasted my time and money attending the Art Institute. I am now unemployed and financially ruined. When I first attended I was enrolled in an 18 month program which I later found out from an instructor that it would not help me qualify for a job in the field that AI advertised the program as so I withdrew. Years later I decided to try school again but this time I enrolled in the online BA program at the Art Institute only to find out that the students that had already graduated have no chance at employment with a degree from the Art Institute and that the school was in trouble for the scam they were running. I have since tried to withdraw from the school but their academic counselor treated me horribly for doing so. She also never withdrew me from classes during the first week of the quarter when she was supposed to so now I have to pay for another quarter because she simply won’t let me withdraw. I’m currently getting the run around via phone and don’t know what else to do besides continue to try to withdraw and write reviews to warn others about the underhanded tactics of this scam called an Art Institute. Don’t take my word for it… read the court documents

Well after going against my better instinct after identifying this school is a for profit organization. I enrolled, and regardless I feel pretty certain and positive more and more as I attack my assignments every week.
I understand that many of those that posted low reviews never completed, and received an high amount of debt.
Unfortunately, I agree with their anger and its result. But rather I’m entirely delighted and looking around to receive my Bachelor’s of Science in Audio Design Technology.
Full time with-​in 3 years time I will be able to have a degree worth something, something more than regrets and events that hurt the income. I’m fortunate to be able to afford this school, with out going into debt. I’ve planned and I am prepared to take this school on, while hopefully impacting others to be positive professionals and learn from others my self.
My goal after I get my BS is to further my studies elsewhere to an university of art to acquire my master’s degree in the Audio Design Field.
Now as for those saying this school is not respected and so on, diploma’s and results say otherwise. Sure your paying a high price for not preparing independently to go to a 4 year college sure. But in the end that’s an individual choice, i’m happy, and being older somewhere in my late 30’s (Bachelor Status) i’m ready to take on the challenge.
I’m paying for a school that has a quarter program, year round, lets me test into a self paced math class with the only requirement being a letter and a diploma.
Ironically, I could say you get what you pay for… but I’m gratefully not going to into debt because of the GI Bill and the Yellow Ribbon program.
But trust had it been me going into debt I would have gone into the environmental sciences, thank god for the military service or this would be impossible.

I requested info on a program and decided against it. I have asked them to quite calling me and take me off their list many many times. They are still calling and will not quit even when I request them to no longer contact me again.

For those who may be concerned with the low reviews:
Being a student who struggled to find his niche as a freshman at a public college, Western Washington University, this school (AIS) has provided the ideal learning environment and made up for my discouraging first year of college.
At WWU and other large public colleges, it is common to find 200+ lectures halls, impersonal relationships with teachers and a bureaucratic system of education where each student is simply a number. At the Art Institute of Seattle, I was surprised and overwhelmingly happy to find that my class sizes were about 15 – 25 students at most and not only did the teachers know me by name after the first half of my first quarter, they also knew what my goals and aspirations were AND wanted to help me achieve them. This school establishes personal relations with professionals in your desired major, gives you hands on training and skills pertaining to your major (not a bunch of superfluous GUR’s), and is located in one of the most beautiful and progressive cities in the country.
The low reviews on Unilocal as well as elsewhere in regards to this school come from people who have either never been to a traditional college or simply didn’t apply themselves enough. School takes dedication, open mindedness and hard work– you get out exactly what you put in.
The only downfalls to this school that I could possibly fathom would be the tuition costs and the cafeteria food/​seating. Having said that, every college is expensive and at the end of the day, you pay more for quality. Also, although the cafeteria food can be described as mediocre at best, Pike Place market is a 5 minute walk away and has cheaper meals of far better quality and variety.

I was so excited to move over to Seattle to attend this school. It started out alright but as time went on it got worse and worse. The school is ridiculously expensive and yes they love your money. While putting together my financial aid/​plan, it was mostly just «sign here» no real explanations or help. Since then, I have transferred to another school and the experience has been amazing. It just goes to show me how bad this school is. I debated about writing a review for quite some time but today I heard a bit of news that pushed me over the edge. I was in the fashion program when I attended Ai and there was ONE teacher I felt I learned so much from. Well today I heard the news that the school let him go. I feel like there is no more hope for the program unfortunately because his classes were the best, informative classes for the fashion program. It’s a shame I wasted so much money at this «school». Please consider other options before Ai, you could save a lot of money and get a better education.

I will start by emphasizing this school is FOR-​PROFIT. Making money is the goal here and the absurd price-​tag attached to this shoddy education is highway robbery. If you’re expecting an artistic experience, look elsewhere.
I enrolled at The Art Institute of Seattle (AIS) in their Digital Film Production program back in 2010 with the intent of making a couple student films, a documentary and an avant-​garde coming of age story that had been brewing in my head for nearly a decade. They did a superb job at pitching the place. The main draw was their facilities. My mouth drooled as I thought of all the possibilities. I could record my music here! Here I could finally meet some like-​minded individuals! I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The vast majority of the student body are trust-​fund brats and ex-​military «bros» that are finally getting in on the college experience. Sure, there are some talented people, but to find someone eager to make a statement, to venture into uncharted territory, they are few and far in between. I found myself constantly grouped up with people wanting to make silly videos replicating that BS they saw on Saturday Night Live or Lady Gaga music videos. These people were the ones with the money and the resources, a lot of them the spoiled brats who’ve never been told «no» in their lives. Often the odd-​man out, I’d end up working on group projects requiring a minimum of 5 people by myself, essentially making any quality work next to impossible given the deadlines and my resources.
The audio-​recording facilities are strictly reserved to the Audio Program. I was mislead into thinking I could record bands, even if I were in the Video Program. I put in countless hours to get certified to use those rooms, racked up who knows how much money in debt, only to find out in the end that if I wasn’t enrolled in one of the Audio Production classes, I couldn’t use the facilities, even though I was still paying for the facilities, taking classes at the school, and intended to use the product for my classes. I felt cheated, scammed, they lied to me. Working with the Audio students was pretty much out of the question, as they were generally a snooty group of faux-​elitists looking to make cliché metal and «hardcore» punk, wannabe «thugs» looking to make hip-​hop beats, or dance music nerds who wanted nothing more than to sit around and make sounds on the computer and call it music.
Borrowing equipment is a terrible experience as well. The longest you can borrow anything is for a weekend, so you never really have the time to get the things done that you need to. Quite often they wouldn’t have the thing you needed, whether it be damaged or already checked out, so there were times you’d have to improvise and use less than adequate equipment.
The faculty mirrors the student body in the sense that very few of them are «artists» so-​to-​speak. Many of my instructors simply showed up for a paycheck, regurgitating the same material in the multiple classes you were REQUIRED to take. The program was completely disorganized, there was no curriculum. You would hear the same things over and over from instructors, getting assigned nothing but pointless and time consuming exercises that ate up too much time for you to do anything meaningful. By my 3^rd year I had nothing to show for all of my work, I was still lacking some of the BASICS. There were some instructors (generally the ones that weren’t full-​time) that really gave some valuable information and enriched my life, but unfortunately, the ones that are there full-​time generally don’t care about your education at all. As they say, «Those that do, do. Those that can’t, teach.»
Near the end of my time there I was plagiarized by another student. He faced no repercussions. It was one of the final straws in my leaving the place. The price-​tag was too high, the education was crap, there weren’t any like-​minded individuals to work with, and I couldn’t even share my ideas (even for a grade) without someone ripping it off.
Don’t waste your time and money at AIS. You could learn this stuff on your own at a fraction of the cost and buy the equipment yourself.

As an Art Institute Alumni (Phoenix), I LOVE my school. So when I moved back home to Seattle, I reached out to the Fashion and Marketing department to extend the offer to some of the students to help me and my business with an upcoming charity event.
Since volunteer and charity work helped me get to the top of my class, President of my class, and extreme amounts of exposure before even graduating; I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity for the students to help with; and in return, maybe find a new employee with motivation and drive, like myself.
But after reaching out, I got one response, but after that my emails were ignored. I was not impressed with the director, or the Dean of Student Affairs; as she promised me that she would get back to me after sending the offer out to students. No response either.
Since AiPX was not like this, I know Ai Seattle is an isolated incident. But I am glad I went all the way to Arizona for my BA instead of wasting my money in my home town. Needless to say, I was gravely disappointed.

This should have minus stars. Please do some research.
When my niece wanted to attend, I looked around. I talked to graduates I knew. Look up the lawsuits. Read what Photo District News has to say or gradreport dot com.
The US Department of Justice sued Pittsburgh-​based Education Management Corporation, which is 41 percent owned by investment bank Goldman Sachs. The government has charged the company with fraudulently collecting $ 11 billion dollars in state and federal student financial aid between July of 2003 to June of 2011. EDMC allegedly collected $ 2.2 billion of that money in 2010 alone. That amounted to almost 90 percent of the company’s 2010 revenues.
The government says EDMC violated federal rules against paying recruiters based on the number of students enrolled. Those rules are designed to prevent colleges from recruiting unqualified students just to collect student aid money.
EDMC operates more than 100 schools under the names Art Institute, Brown Mackie College, South University, and Argosy University. According to former recruiters and photography students contacted by Photo District News, many Art Institute graduates leave with tens of thousands of dollars (even 6 figures) in student loan debt, and insufficient professional qualifications or job prospects to pay the money back.
The goal is to filter government money to the stockholders.
Look up ALL the Unilocal reviews for all the other branches of Art Institute. Message the reviewers if you want more details.
Look up what employees have to say about it on glassdoor.
«Unethical environment»
«Teachers with no work ethic»
«Money is the bottom line, not the students or providing a quality education.»
«Don’t go to this school»
«Deception». Et cetera.
Your Academic Advisor is a salesperson. Go to the website and the first thing is they want your contact information right away. Of course the financial department is so attentive. Their job is to take advantage of young people and veterans, they aggressively sell a dream of a lucrative career, they milk you for loans and fees, charge you for a way-​overpriced kit you likely won’t use, saddle you with terrible debt you may never be able to pay off, have you retake classes for extra cost. If you decide to leave, you’ll find your credits don’t transfer because it’s not a highly regarded place. You’ll be starting over from scratch. If you get a degree, you’ll find it is not respected, even considered ludicrous. I dread seeing the portfolios coming across my desk. At the places I freelance, they accept some unpaid interns from AI but they hire Seattle Community College students because they have the skills and experience. A CC is way cheaper and your credits will transfer.
Want to be a graphic designer? Talk to some and ask how they got into it. Invite them to lunch to talk about it. Read and research at the library and online.
Want to be a chef or baker? Get a job at the entry level, study books, videos, buy good ingredients, try recipes.
Want to be a photographer? Intern or get a job as an assistant to one or several. Read, study, practice with whatever equipment you have, take a course or two at community college. A lot of it is knowing business skills, too.
Dedicate yourself to your own education in this way and you won’t be in astronomical debt from it and you’ll learn more than just work skills.
A lot of us older people are happy to help the next generation. Just ask us.
The stockbrokers are NOT sending their kids to these schools.

Don’t waste your time or money at this «for profit» school. They recently have had two massive layoffs getting rid of the full time instructors replacing them with part time. They use anyone to teach anything– whether or not they are qualified!
Each instructor (no matter if this is their first teaching gig) creates their curriculum too– with no help from AIS. And they might be given a weekend to get it done! How can that be something an accreditation board would qualify? That board is likely «for profit» as well. So take their accreditation for what it’s worth, not much!
And of course your tuition will put you deeply in debt with no one wanting to hire you because of where you went to school.
And if you are a good student– get ready for entitled, lazy, rarely in class «students» to whine and complain if they are asked to participate or if they get a bad grade.
Seriously– go anywhere else but here!
Start with community college and if you’re still in high school do running start! College for free! Then, if you need financial aid for a real school it will be much better spent! While you’re in school get a grunt job with a company in your field– be willing to learn everything! !

I’m shocked an appalled at all of the bad reviews! This school is amazing. I am in the culinary program here and absolutely love it. Great location too. My chef instructors are knowledgeable, helpful and kind. The kitchens here are better equipped than you will find in most restaurants. The course information is relevant and applicable to the real world. I can’t speak for the other programs but the culinary one is killer!

DON’T COME HERE! Find schooling elsewhere.
I’ve been attending the Art Institute for over a year now and I regret every minute of it. The tuition is incredibly expensive and you get practically nothing in return. The campus is in a constant state of change, remodeling, rebuilding so many of the services available to students (computer labs, printing, library) are off limits or out of service.
At this very moment it’s finals week and the main printers are OUT OF INK! The tech support for the printers can’t get immediate help. You’d think they’d have a back up system or extra ink cartridges near by (NOPE)
The fashion marketing degree I’m trying to obtain is only taught by the same 3 – 4 teachers, so if you don’t like one of them you’re stuck with them for the whole time you’re in school. It makes learning very difficult.
I feel this school is just a money making machine. It gives too many of it’s students As just to push them through the system and take their money. You have to constantly watch your monthly tuition bill because they can accidentally charge you the wrong amount.
I’m just trying to get a job so I can drop out and hopefully recoup the $$$ I spent here.

This is only getting one star because zero stars does not exist.
1. Disappointing experience with most of the staff. There were a few greats in the graphic design program, the commercialism of the ‘for profit” machine bled the school dry of the real talent.
2. Outrageous student loans! i could have gotten a degree from UW! man do i regret not going to Shoreline Community College.
3. No one wants a Art institute graduate! the bad rep follows you into the work force… Embarrassing!
i cannot believe this institution is accredited.

I love this school, granted it is expensive, I have learned a lot and I feel like I am going places. This school and it’s teachers have unleashed the passion and brilliance that have been inside me all along.

(ZERO STARS if able to be chosen)
This «school» is a for profit institution that is only interested in their own financial wellbeing. I went there for 4 quarters, one year straight and finally came to the realization that this school was not good at all. Granted I did learn some things and there are SOME talented teachers there but out of the 16 classes I took only 3 were awesome, worthwhile and that is unacceptable, especially since they charge so much money per credit. They are fast to accept you pretending like they care and you «qualify.» If you love creativity and a talent at what you do, seek a real, competitive program at a traditional, well known school. If you are not good enough for a real program perhaps you should either practice practice practice and keep applying to your dream school, or change your career direction. If you are not accepted once, do not give up apply again. NEVER GIVE UP!
Luckily before I started AI I already had a Bachelors Degree in Business under my belt. I always loved art and design and wanted to expand my horizons. My suggestion is to get a education at a state or private, university/​college or community college. I am sure even community colleges have much better art programs that will be much cheaper.
Also if you love art and design or any creative field pick up some books on it and explore the disciplines yourself. The information to learn is readily available.
Best Regards,
JC

A WASTE OF MONEY. After reading reviews, I was skeptical in deciding to go to this school or not. But I am a person who always experiences a situation before judging it. I enrolled into their fashion marketing degree because I had high hopes of pursuing a career in visual merchandising or buying. I realized in my second quarter how much of a scam this school is. It’s a small school so you get a lot of the same instructors and I conclude most of them had no idea what they were doing. For the money I paid (which I actually now own in student loans), the instructors could have been ten times better. I had some instructors who didn’t even read or go over homework assignments; but instead just simply asked the class to raise their hands if they did their work. What kind of instructor is that? You would think after working hard all week on a research paper it would at least be read and graded fairly. Also, the school is on a quarterly schedule but a full time student there meant taking 4 – 5 classes each quarter. They say they do this so you can earn your bachelors degree in 3 years instead of the standard 4. A great scam I tell you. Instead of taking time and actually learning, they encourage a rush learning environment that does nothing but stress students out. If you have a job, be prepared to either quit completely or work only 10 – 15 hours a week if you want to keep your sanity. I worked part time 25 – 30 hours and basically had no life. Their classes are once a week but each class is 4 hours long. Multiple five classes by 4 hours and that give you a total of 20 hours of school a week. Yes, you have an option of taking part time classes instead but if you are on financial aid, you can forget about that option. Anyway, I was miserable at that school and refused to waste anymore money for an education I felt like would take me no where after I graduated.
I ended up transferring to the University of Washington (Which is a GREAT school). I had previously gone to Bellevue College prior to AIS and ALL my BC credits transferred to UW while only 2 of my AIS credits transferred. Mind you, they transferred as only 2 credits each meaning they were not even equivalent to ONE 5 credit class at the UW. After ten classes at AIS and $ 20,000 in the garbage you would think at least ONE 5 credit class would be transferable.
If I could rate this school a zero I would. The only reason why I think it deserves a one star rating is because I had friends in the fashion DESIGN and graphic design programs who loved the school and were successful after graduation. As far as their fashion marketing program, don’t even bother. Go to a local university instead and you’ll get a real marketing degree that is ¼th of the price you’d pay here.

I am currently an audio production student in my second year here. I’m sorry to the people with poor reviews, but I have had a great experience in my program. My instructors are have taken a seemingly genuine interest in my education, the financial aid office has been helpful, and the facility is pretty up to date. Getting into the school was pretty easy, the school emailed and called quite a bit. I didn’t see this as a hassle, it was nice. Yes, it is a for-​profit school, but everyone seems pretty attentive.
On the bad side, the parking stinks in this area. The school doesn’t own the attached parking garage, so the prices are pretty high. Most of the general education instructors are great, but there have been some classes that I felt I should have tested out of. Lastly, while the library staff are awesome, it is rather small.
My advice is take a tour on open house days. Talk to current students in your field that are attending the school.
If any of this changes, I’ll update my review, but as of now, I’m a fan.

If you are an artist Do NOT waste your time and money at this «school» (I will use that term loosely).
I’ve been attending for about 2 years and some change. My experience going to this school has been an awful one. This made me genuinely interested in what the other reviewers had to say. I have to be honest, I’m surprised there are any positive reviews.
I’m currently in the bachelors for video production, and can’t really think of a single positive thing to say. For some perspective, I MIGHT have said I had a good experience, had I been attending a seminar, or free program.
The fact of the matter is, though, I’m currently $ 79,000 in debt (without interest) and have yet to have finished the program.
A large part of the problem is student housing. IF you decide not to heed my advice hear this: AVOID THE HOUSING. You will be paying nearly 20,000 a year to live in a cupboard with 1,2, or 3 other people. They’ll all be paying the same amount, which means the art institute is pocketing 40, 60, or 80,000 per unit, per year.
You should be living in a condo for that price, but you wont… and if you’re paying with loans, you wont be informed of your debt by the fantastic financial aid department until it appears you cannot take out anymore.
In essence, these schools operate on exploiting the desires of poor folks. We want to do our arts, and they offer the opportunity to anyone. You can be poor, stupid, 60 years old, 18 years old. The doors are OPEN to anyone, because the school just wants your money.
Because it wants your money, you’ll never receive legitimate encouragement, quality feedback, or any freebies. At all.
And I hate to be THAT guy, but the other students are TERRIBLE. It’s not an equal mix of jerks and decent people. It’s largely weighing in favor of JERKS. You’ll literally run into arrogant handicapped students. This is how terrible the school is: they will take a mentally challenged persons money, and create the allusion that there is an industry job for them.
I can’t stomach this garbage anymore. I’d suggest you either read some books on your desired field of interest, or find a school that is fueled by a genuine passion for the arts.
I have to say it again. If you are paying with loans here, you’ll be in debt so fast, you’ll be put in a position where you literally have no choice but to try and get an industry job and work for the rest of your life to pay it all back.
I think, though, you’ll find that you haven’t learned nearly enough… and you’ll be up the creek without a paddle… and you’ll find that no one here cares.