Minneapolis College of Art and Design

The financial aid office at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design is weak and lame and totally screwed us over (I was the cosigner to my husband’s school loans). Unless you already have $ 100k to waste and don’t need to actually work after college don’t go to MCAD. They do absolutely nothing to help you career-​wise. Sure art is fun and the teachers know what they are doing but if you can’t get a job afterwards what’s the point.
My husband graduated from there in 2008 and has been unemployed since even though he’s been shopping his portfolio around and around and around and around. He still works on his art every day. His teachers at MCAD were very complimentary of his work and made comments like «what are you doing here you should be working?» And yet, no work.
All of which is very helpful what with the $ 90,000 dollars in loans he racked up attending the college.
Unless you get a full scholarship or a pell grant or something, or are independently wealthy, I advise you avoid this college.
UPDATE (⁰⁴⁄₂₀₁₄):
I thought I should update this review as I felt I wasn’t being entirely fair to the faculty. So I’ve increased my rating from one to two stars. For the most part my husband had an overall good learning experience with really great faculty members, but the administrative departments (specifically financial aid and the career office) were lacking.
My husband graduated in with a BFA in Comic Art right before the recession hit. He graduated with over $ 90,000 worth of debt because (a) we were not rich enough to pay out of pocket and (b) the school did nothing to help fund his education other than facilitate loans. I expected better. And that $ 90,000 was for tuition and fees only. We paid on average a couple thousand out of pocket for some of tuition expenses plus books/​supplies per semester and borrowed the rest. He worked a part-​time job for three years and I worked full-​time to cover our living expenses. At one point I was working two jobs so that we could afford for him to quit working during his senior year.
As someone who has completed two college degrees and about to start my third (and hopefully final) degree at my third school, I also feel they did very little to prepare him for a career as an artist. They should have had him researching the industry, surveying alumni, and talking to other working professionals on what they did to develop their careers, etc. They also could have done more along the lines of facilitating workshops, internships, career fairs, networking with potential employers, etc. I think the most they had (at the time) was an online job board available to employers looking to post jobs — not sure how many postings the college worked to solicit. It was my impression at the time that they had more opportunities for their design majors than fine arts majors.
It is worth noting that the only communications my husband has received from MCAD since graduating are newsletters announcing gallery openings and letters asking for donations to the school. If they would do a better job of preparing their students for careers/​connecting them with work then perhaps they would get more donations. It might also be nice if they surveyed their alumni occasionally.

A very good friend (ok my ex) went to this school. I had the pleasure of sitting in on a few classes and basically bumming around. I must say it’s a fantastic school filled with so much talent.