Best Online Master’s in Animation Illustration

Published: Aug 26, 2021
Updated: Mar 13, 2023

Find top-ranked online master’s in animation illustration degree programs for student wanting to explore a career paths as animators, studio executives, technical directors, and illustrators.

Featured Programs

Frequently Asked Questions About Animation Illustration Degrees

Students earning a master’s degree in animation illustration will have the opportunity to further develop their visual language and creative abilities. With both online and on-campus programs available, graduate students can find a path that is compatible with existing personal and professional responsibilities.

Most programs specialize in areas like character animation, illustration, and visual effects. Students may take classes about the production process, concept art, book covers, vector illustration, motion, and more.

In addition to the roughly 60 credits needed to finish the degree, students will likely also complete a thesis project, which often doubles as a preliminary professional portfolio. Most programs take one to two years to complete.

Graduates often explore career options as animators, studio executives, technical directors, and illustrators.

How do we determine the best online animation illustration master's degree programs?

Methodology

Pursuing your degree online doesn’t mean you need to settle for an inferior school. Today, most universities and colleges offer online degrees, and many respected schools are seeing significant growth in their numbers of online students.

The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great. This is why influence — i.e., the academic impact of faculty and alumni associated with a school — gets at the heart of what is truly best in education. The combined influence score of a college or university’s top academic influencers is the best indicator of academic excellence. For our online degree rankings, we focus on the academic influence of faculty and alumni in the specific disciplines we’re ranking.

If you are serious about finding the best online colleges, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching, and whether their graduates themselves are advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence. Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Influence, as measured by our InfluenceRanking engine, provides a ranking that is free from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.