Your Creative Education Starts Here
Discover Columbia College Chicago: Where Creativity Becomes a Career
For more than 135 years, Columbia College Chicago has welcomed innovators, makers, and storytellers like you. We're a private, nonprofit liberal arts college in Chicago, designed just for creatives. At Columbia, you'll find a hands-on education that blends the arts with technology, media, business, and liberal arts. You'll learn through:
- Connections with Industry Partners: Find opportunities with companies such as Disney, Netflix, and Patagonia to complete real-world projects and internships.
- State-of-the-Art Facilities: Master your technical skills in our world-class work spaces, from recording studios and concert halls to printmaking studios and fabrication facilities.
- Building Your Professional-Grade Portfolio: Work with faculty and career mentors to put together a portfolio of work that will help you stand out to employers.
- Our Central Location in Chicago: You'll study right in the South Loop neighborhood — known for its colleges, cultural institutions, and proximity to Lake Michigan — and benefit from all the cultural and professional opportunities that abound here.
Our alumni have shaped today's creative arts, media arts, and performing arts culture — and you could shape tomorrow's. Connect with Columbia today and get started on your creative future.
Learn More About Columbia College Chicago
Let us know the best way to reach you by filling out the form below and we'll send important information about applying to Columbia straight to your inbox!
Gain a Competitive Edge in Creative Arts at Columbia
Experience College in Chicago's Creative Core
At Columbia, the city is your campus. Our South Loop location puts you just steps from world-class museums, theaters, design firms, and media outlets — meaning inspiration and opportunity are never far away. From grabbing food with friends to checking out exhibits at the Art Institute of Chicago, you never know where a day could take you at Columbia. Plus, as a full-time student you'll have unlimited access to the city's transit system with the Ventra U-Pass. Getting around is easier than ever at Columbia.
Columbia College Chicago by the Numbers
Undergraduate Degree Programs in Media Arts, Liberal Arts, and Business
Student Clubs and Organizations to Choose From
of recent graduates report being employed or achieving success in creative practice
Creative Careers Start at Columbia College Chicago
Columbia grads launch creative careers across industries — from design and media to performance, business, and tech. Ninety-six percent of recent graduates report being employed or achieving success in creative practice, and you'll graduate career ready and connected too.
Columbia grads have landed jobs at top employers, including Disney, Warner Bros., NBC, Apple, and CBS
Photo by Shanet Roman, Former Graphic Design Student
"When I found Columbia, I realized that it was a place where I would cultivate my creativity and I could learn by doing."
— Christian Navas '22
Columbia Makes Art School in Chicago More Affordable
A Columbia degree is an investment in your creativity—and we're committed to making it accessible. With 99 percent of first-year students receiving financial aid, you'll find the support you need to focus on what matters most: creating.
Ways Columbia helps you save:
- Merit-Based Scholarships: You're automatically considered for these when you apply to Columbia.
- Talent-Based Scholarships: You can choose to apply by submitting a portfolio or completing an audition.
- Visit and FAFSA Awards: Up to $8,000 over four years for visiting campus, plus $1,000 just for filing the FAFSA.
Faculty Spotlight: Stephen Asma
Stephen Asma blends deep scholarship with creativity, inviting students to explore the unusual—from monsters to mysticism. As a Professor in the School of Communication and Culture, he leads courses on monsterology and hosts his own YouTube series “Professor Asma's Guide to Unusual Knowledge,” bringing ideas from his podcast collaborations with Paul Giamatti and fieldwork across the globe into the classroom.
“Education should spark wonder. Whether it's philosophy, storytelling, or monsters, it's all part of trying to understand what it means to be human.”