About Alberta College of Art & Design

Alberta College of Art and Design is located in Calgary on the North Hill overlooking the Bow River and the downtown skyline, in a 245,000 square foot building that was designed in 1973 specifically as an art college. ACAD's close proximity to downtown, via light rail transit, is a distinct advantage to our students, providing them with easy access to Calgary's galleries, museums and cultural events.

The Alberta College of Art and Design is one of only four degree-granting, publicly-funded Art and Design colleges in Canada, the others being the Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design in Vancouver, the Ontario College of Art & Design in Toronto and the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design in Halifax.

It is the only post-secondary institution in the prairie provinces devoted exclusively to advanced education, practice and research in visual culture, design and associated and emergent fields. The Alberta College of Art and Design offers four-year undergraduate degrees and diplomas and graduate degrees, preparing learners for careers in visual culture and design. The college is a centre of excellence in education and research in fine arts, crafts, design, media arts and digital technologies and related liberal studies, and supports life-long learning through its credit and non-credit continuing education programming. The college acts as a local, provincial, national and international visual culture resources, and through research, is a producer of original knowledge leading to cultural developments. Its public activities are designed to enhance the general awareness of the college and advance knowledge and understanding of the importance of visual culture and design to the economic, cultural and social life of the communities and societies that it serves.

About the Admissions Process

Admission decisions are based on an assessment of academic transcripts, a personal statement and a portfolio. All applicants must satisfy minimum academic and English proficiency requirements. ACAD admits students in September and January. Admission in January is limited and prospective students are advised to contact the Admissions Office for details.

If you have not completed one year of a studio-based fine art/design program at the post-secondary level, you should apply to First Year Studies. Only applicants who have completed an equivalent first year program will be considered for admission at the second year level, and only students who have completed studies equivalent to ACAD's second year will be considered for admission to third year.