Graphic Design Programs at St. Petersburg College
St. Petersburg College appears in our ranking of the 20 Most Affordable Associates in Web Design and Development Online.
The graphic design and digital media programs offered by St. Petersburg College provide students with hands-on opportunities and chances to gain real-life experience. Students can complete assignments at some of the college’s state of the art facilities, which give them access to computers equipped with the latest forms of digital production software. The college now offers one full Associate of Science degree program and multiple certificate programs.
Students in the Associate of Science (A.S.) in Digital Media program can choose from several plans or tracks of study that include graphic design. Other options include digital game production and video game foundations. The college requires that students complete a general education core and maintain a grade point average of C or higher in those courses. They will also take 24 credits of digital media classes, including Exploration of Media Tools, Introduction to Digital Media, Media Planning, Legal Issues in Media Development and Digital Art and Design. Majors will also do a digital media internship, which helps them earn one to three credits. They have the choice of working for major agencies in the area and can work for television and film production houses or game design companies.
The graphic design track of study features 15 credits of classes and prepare students for doing graphic design on the web. Those classes include Advanced Digital Image Editing, Electronic Media Design and Typography. Students will also take courses on creating and rendering digital effects and publishing digital work. One of the certificate programs offered by the college is in digital graphic design. It features the same 15 credits that students need to take to complete the digital graphic design track of study in the college’s full degree program.
Other certificates are available in digital multimedia UX, digital media video production and digital media multimedia production. Each program includes five classes that are worth 15 credits. Students who later decide to earn a degree from the college can use their credits towards its digital media program. They’ll take classes such as Digital Imaging Foundations and Survey of Digital Media. St. Petersburg College also allows students to earn one or more of these certificates at the same time that they work on their associate degrees. Both the degree and certificate programs offered by the college are available online.
About St. Petersburg College
St. Petersburg College is a state college in Florida that originally catered to students living in and around Pinellas County. Established in 1927, it served as a small school called St. Petersburg Junior College. It opened during the Great Depression as locals lost their jobs and had problems caring for their families. The school provided opportunities for students to get the training needed to work in the limited job market of the area at the time. Though classes first met in St. Petersburg High School, enrollment at the college quickly outgrew that small campus. It moved to a new campus in the early 1940s. A new campus opened in the 1960s, but the college still uses the facilities on both.
Also called SPC and St. Petersburg, the college functions as a traditional community college. In addition to associate degree programs that let students graduate in two years, the college also offers certificate programs. There are now a number of online certificate and degree programs available too. Each campus and center that belongs to SPC offer clubs and organizations such as Campus Crusade for Christ and the Academic Team. Many of its more than 49,000 enrolled students join at least one of these clubs.
St. Petersburg College Accreditation Details
SPC has the regional accreditation that lets students get credit for their past work when they transfer to or from the college. That accreditation comes from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and also allows the college to design financial aid packages that include more than one type of financial aid. Among the SPC programs that have special accreditation include those in funeral service education, nursing, dental hygiene, and physical therapy.
St. Petersburg College Application Requirements
The self-assessment tool offered by St. Petersburg helps students decide if they’re ready for college. It recommends that students complete this tool and take a campus tour before they submit an application. SPC also holds open houses for traditional and honors students. Those events go over what the college expects of them and what they’ll need to do to apply as well as how they can get financial aid. Any student who has a high school diploma or a GED receives guaranteed acceptance from the college because of its open admissions policy.
To apply, students must visit the SPC admissions website and use the online application. It asks about whether the applicant finished high school, if the student attended college, and for a home address and social security number. Students will provide SPC with their official high school transcripts or a GED and pay a $40 application fee. The college asks that students take the College Placement Test too and that they speak with their academic advisors before they can register for classes. As long as students meet these requirements, they can enroll and register.
Tuition and Financial Aid
All the classes at SPC are available in one of two divisions. The college charges one rate for lower level courses and a second rate for higher level courses. Students also pay different rates based on whether they live in Florida. The cost for Florida residents is between $112 and $123 per credit hour. Nonresidents pay between $387 and $426 per credit hour. These rates are the same for online students.
Florida students can prepay for their classes, and all students can sign up for payment plans. St. Petersburg recommends that students look at their financial aid options too and that they use the SPC school code on the FAFSA. The Pell grant and subsidized student loans help students pay their college expenses. They can also get jobs working for SPC and scholarships when they submit the FAFSA. The Florida Bright Futures program provides scholarships to students who take at least six credits each semester at a Florida school and meet other requirements. St. Petersburg College offers a variety of financial aid options for students applying to its graphic design and media programs.
