Awards
MCAD has received numerous art and design education awards and accolades:
- The Princeton Review has included MCAD on its annual Best Midwestern Colleges List for more than ten years—a rarity for a visual arts college.
- The highly respected design publication I.D. has recognized MCAD as one of the top ten design schools in the world.
- U.S. News & World Report has listed MCAD's master of fine arts program as one of the top fifty in the nation.
- Dwell magazine has credited MCAD as a key player in supporting Minneapolis’s renowned arts infrastructure.
- Animation Career Review has listed MCAD's programs among the best in the Midwest, including our programs in animation, graphic design, and illustration. We are also among the top 20 schools for illustration in the nation.
- MCAD's fully online master of arts in graphic and web design program has been named the best of its kind by intelligent.com.
Accreditation
MCAD is accredited by associations that review higher education institutions to ensure they meet critical standards:
- The National Association of Schools of Art and Design is an organization of schools, colleges, and universities with 248 accredited institutional members. It establishes national standards for undergraduate and graduate degrees and other credentials.
- The Higher Learning Commission reviews the colleges and universities of a nineteen-state region. It is one of seven regional accrediting organizations in the country.
- The Minneapolis College of Art and Design is registered with the Minnesota Office of Higher Education pursuant to sections 136A.61 to 136A.71. Registration is not an endorsement of the institution. Credits earned at the institution may not transfer to all other institutions.
- MCAD has been approved by the state of Minnesota to participate in the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements. NC-SARA is a voluntary, regional approach to state oversight of postsecondary distance education.
Affiliations
MCAD also belongs to two organizations that are noteworthy for their members’ academic excellence:
- The Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design is a consortium of the thirty-six leading art and design colleges in the nation, including such schools as the Rhode Island School of Design, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the California Institute of the Arts.
- The Minnesota Private College Council is a group of the top seventeen colleges in Minnesota, including such schools as Carleton College, Macalester College, and the University of St. Thomas.