School Spotlight: Pratt Institute

There are over 4,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. And while the media tends to focus on just a handful of schools, we at College Coach encourage students to think outside the box during their college selection process and explore a wide range of colleges. As such, we are highlighting a new college each week in our School Spotlight series. Check out the college below, along with the other posts in our series, and you may just stumble upon your dream school! School Spotlight: Pratt Institute New York, New York Founded in 1887, Pratt was one of the first campuses in the country to welcome students of all genders, races, and social classes. That sense of inclusion and egalitarianism still drives Pratt, an arts-focused institution home to just over 4,100 undergraduate students and around 1,200 graduate students who come from 44 states and 72 countries. Pratt has two campuses in New York City. The 25-acres campus in the hip Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn is the larger of the two, while the Chelsea campus in Manhattan occupies just one building. There’s also an extension campus several hours to the northwest of New York City in the town of Utica. The Brooklyn campus is the hub of undergraduate life and housing, and it has a quiet, residential feel, yet is easily accessible by subway and bus and just steps away from bustling city sidewalks. The campus itself also serves as a sculpture park, making a stroll through the grounds feel like walking through an outdoor art gallery. Though considered an art school, there is a liberal arts curriculum at the core of each student’s education. Additionally, every first-year student begins their Pratt journey with the Foundation year, “a yearlong experience that transforms incoming students into an inclusive community of aspiring artists and designers. This year of interdisciplinary research and experimentation prepares students to enter specialized majors, fosters self-discovery and social engagement, and instills a practice of seeing and critical inquiry that will endure throughout their lives.” Pratt offers 25 undergraduate degrees in programs that include architecture, game arts, art and design education, communications design, construction management, critical and visual studies, digital arts (including 2-D and 3-D animation), fashion, film/video, fine arts (which encompasses drawing, jewelry, painting, printmaking, and sculpture), history of art and design, industrial design, interior design, photography, and writing. There’s also a diverse range of minors in everything entrepreneurship to sustainability studies. The Manhattan campus offers a small selection of associate degree programs in topics like graphic design, illustration, painting, game design and interactive media, and building and construction. Pratt students can choose from more than 20 study abroad and exchange options; popular destinations include Florence, Milan, Copenhagen, London, and Tokyo. Visit the website to learn more about applying to Pratt, as well as paying for an education at Pratt. Image Credit: Top, Courtesy of Institute of Pratt Institute