Does anyone have any knowledge of schools in the Cleveland area? I may be moving there and want to look into what school I would transfer to. I’m an art major…
Try the Cleveland Institute of Art. It’s pretty much the obvious choice. 
Not the obvious choice for me. While I would consider it, certainly, I think I would rather go to a university than a specialized art school. I just feel like it would be a more well-rounded education.
Upon looking at their site, they’re about nine jillion times outside of my range, tuition-wise, as well.
Among the Liberal Arts/Non-business/Non-medical schools, (James A. Rhodes Junior College (AKA Cleveland State University), Baldwin-Wallace, John Carroll, Ursuline, U of Akron, Kent State, Cuyahoga Community, Lake Community, Lake Erie College, Oberlin, Walsh), I have heard decent things about Kent State university and, of course, Oberlin. I know that Ursuline has an Art Therapy school that is rated well, but I do not know the situation regarding art, per se. Similarly, Lake Erie College has an Arts program, but I do not know how it is rated.
You’d probably have to take the names of these schools to someone with an art background to see how they rate.
Basic info (including costs) can be found by clicking on the links, by college, near the bottom of this page.
There’s also Youngstown State University not far out of Cleveland (it takes me about an hour and a half to get to Cleveland), but I admit to not knowing much about the art program…even though I work at the university.
Thanks for the info, guys, I’m poking through the links.
I would need something actually in Cleveland or the Cleveland suburbs as if I move there, I will be living with Dan who is going to school in Cleveland. Especially as I have a child, an hour-plus drive each way to school is not an option.
Cleveland State University seems to have a fairly complete art department… wonder if it’s any good?
Kent State is less than an hour from most Eastern suburbs; as little as 20 minutes from the Bedford or Maple Heights area. Of course, it would be closer to two hours from Westlake during rush hour.
CSU may or may not have good art classes. You’re still at the mercy of finding opinions from art students on that.
Your best bet is going to be either CIA (too expensive) or Kent. Kent will be most affordable, if you wait to enroll after you’ve been an Ohio resident long enough.
I know plenty of people who commuted from Cleveland to Kent. Or even farther like Warren to Kent. NE Ohio is a pretty small place when you consider the freeway systems. It wouldn’t be hard to find a place that’s equidistant, driving-wise, from Kent and your dude’s school. Kent’s right of 76 which is off 77, which goes right downtown. It’s also near enough to 480 which traverses all of the suburbs east to west, and the Turnpike which starts up in the northwest and comes right near the school.
It’s about 50 minutes to Kent State from where I’d be. I have to consider that I have an elementary school age kid and I don’t want to be having to pay for childcare all the time because I waste two hours a day driving. In other words… I really don’t see Kent as an option unless there really were NO other options.
If $$ is a big issue Opal, and the school HAS to be in Cleveland or it’s immediate suburbs, then Cleveland State University is pretty much your only bet. Not to fret tho, CSU is a perfectly fine school. CIA might be better, and some of the other schools mentioned as well, but they are all costly private universities. It wouldn’t hurt to look into their financial aid programs though!
And, welcome to Cleveland! It IS the best location in the nation, as you shall soon see 
so CSU has a decent reputation?
You’ll have to decide what’s most important - the quality of the art department and the associated options the school provides or your commute. If I was going to pick a school in that area I’d go to Kent. In that area it has the best programs for the price - besides fine art, they also have a fashion and fashion merchandising department, an architecture school, a fine museum of costumes, fashion, painting and decorative art, a school of visual communication design, and other associated things that you might find interesting and important as you progress through your education.
When I still lived in Cleveland I considered getting an MFA there, but ended up changing my mind when other stuff in my life changed.
Cleveland State is fine, but your options will be much more limited.
It wouldn’t hurt to talk to someone from the art department at Kent and get a feel for ways you can work the child care issue - you may be able to work it out so you are at school when your kid is.
No, what I have to decide is what is more important–my family or the name of the school on my degree. I think that a degree from an accredited school plus a kick ass portfolio will be what gets me a good career–not the name on the paper. It is not worth it to me to throw away time driving an hour each way to school, especially since that would mean I’d have to pay someone to watch my son. None of the other things that you listed at Kent (fashion, architecture, merchandising, etc) really have any relevance to me, so they wouldn’t weight my decision.
As long as CSU isn’t a total joke, it will probably be fine. Right now I’m going to Kennesaw State University, which isn’t exactly a world-renowned art school either, but I feel I’m getting a decent education there. I had intended on finishing my degree here, but now it is looking likely that I will be relocating to Cleveland after the Spring semester, so I have to change schools. I just want to make sure that the art department where I’m going isn’t going to be significantly worse than where I am now. What I wanted from this thread was an idea of what schools in that area had (real) art departments so I would know what my options were. I am not in a position to be really choosy about schools right now, nor am I willing to abandon my son in favor of a really long commute.
(and I would need to be at school more hours than my son is, so even if I was at the school during the hours he was, I’d also be there more hours. And if it is anything like my current and past experience, I will have to be at school for a fair amount of time outside of class using their facilities–so I really don’t want them to be an hour away.)
I’m not in a position to be snobby about what school I go to right now. I just need a school that offers the programs that I need (i.e. a school whose art department isn’t just some ceramics classes and a drawing studio).
It sounds like you have already made up your mind then.
I know CSU offers art history, studio art and art education degrees. I don’t know if they are any good - it’s best known for the law school and the Urban Affairs department, along with some computer engineering stuff. It is an urban campus and most students are part-time commuters.
No, I haven’t made up my mind, it’s just that the only one suggested so far that looks like an option is CSU. (I didn’t even know it existed until this thread.)
Here is a Link to CSU Art Major info
I agree with tomndebb; ask other art majors/grads about the CSU art department. You might even try contacting someone at CSU to ask about the major; universities are always willing to send info out to prospective students.
Also find the home pages of some other universities in the Cleveland area; Oberlin would be my choice (caveat: I don’t know Ohio and have no idea where Oberlin is in relation to Cleveland), but it is also quite expensive. 
I don’t know what the residency requirement is in Ohio either, it might be 6 months or a year; otherwise, you’ll have to pay out-of-state rates. At any rate, though, find the web pages of other schools and look at what they say about their art departments. Then get recommendations from other art students/grads.
Hope this helps some!
Additionally, at the bottom of the CSU Art Major info page is a link to the Art Department’s page; you’ll be able to see who the faculty is and get more detailed info on their department and what the specializations are there. Good luck!
Unfortunately, Oberlin is even farther out than Kent and is probably (I’m guessing) more expensive than CIA.