Bozsik Loc: Orangevale, California

No intention on hurting your feelings here, but it sounds like you have more money than desire to learn. When you are done with getting the piece of paper, you won't have other students to keep motivating you. It sounds more like you enjoy interacting with others. Join a photography club. Get together with other photographers who would like to work on specific themes for the club..eg., contest for portraits, landscape, image stacking. You will learn much more than you will in a classroom setting, and can work from your own schedule.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I’ve lived in the Raleigh Durham area all my life, and frankly, I’ve never heard of them. I am skeptical however when I look at their pricing, the lack of any of the “professor’s” resumes/credentials or in-depth course/curriculum descriptions, their miserable graduation rate (21%), and their course offerings that seem to focus on culinary skills and marketing. I’d recommend a visit to their facilities and auditing a typical class before deciding. As has been previously stated, there are excellent universities in the area that offer a BFA from an accredited school as well as community colleges that offer specific courses, staffed by graduate degreed professionals, while this appears to be just another of the many for-profit “schools” offering a potentially worthless degree.

fishgroder

Too have bee taking pictures for many years, but am going to take a course in digital photography at Cornell Univ summer adult program from 7/8-7/14.I hope to learn new things

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

Chose your school wisely. I graduated from Ohio University , Athens Ohio. I have a BFA in photography and an MFA. Ohio University was the oldest University offering a BFA in Photography. At that time, early 1970's, your choices for any meaningful program in photography was: Ohio University BFA and MFA. Art and Journalism. The Rochester Institute of Technology attached to Kodak, for running Darkrooms, processing houses. Brooks Institute out in California. Portrait, Wedding, and Commercial using 35mm through view camera. There were 400 photo majors in my freshman class. 22 graduated with the BFA. All were offered jobs at National Geo., Life Magazine, and other major publications. I went in the AirForce and then as offered a teaching position (photography) at the University of Alaska.

Was it worth 4 years (BFA) and 2yrs (MFA) ....Yes, less so for the MFA. I highly recomend Colleges and Universities vs "Art" schools. I made the mistake of wasteing a year at a "new" Private school in Savannah Georgia. It is a Degree Mill, You pay your money and you get a Degree. I was teaching a class and when it came time to issue grades, some students deserved B's, C's, and D's, The School director and Owner changed thos grades to A's. I would not change them. The Director stated " Do you know who these kids are? Their Parents are Rich and Powerful,. They have Paid Lots of money to me to get them through school". At that time a Semester at this Private school was $8000. State schools were just $800. So I left there not willing to rubber stamp students. The Professors were the Grad School Students I had at OU. Half the year they were teaching to students in the MFA Program the same stuff I had learned my first year at OU BFA program.

It is your time and money. Do your homework. Visit the schools. Talk to the professors. Talk to the students. More importantly, talk to graduates. If the school alumni won't give you Alumni contact information then they are hiding something.
If you are looking at North Carolina then I would look at the state schools. I almost went there for my MFA. They have a very good Photo Program. There are many, many choices out there now. Good Luck and Happy Shooting.

CaptainPhoto

I'm not familiar with the school your are looking at, but I would definitely stay away from the On-Line course(s) offered by the New York Institute of Photography. I signed up for their Travel Photography courses. Paid the full tuition up front to save big bucks. Finished the first lessons and sent in my assignments as required. The instructor critiqued my work, but there was no avenue to get back to the instructor or ask questions about his critique. Da. The first lessons were at the very basic photography level. I was way beyond that level and expected more from a course of this level. Some of the units were presented by a 12-14 year old kid - the son of one of the other presenters. Really. If this was touted at a college level course why was a 12 year old kid teaching the class. Unless he was an Ansel Adams of photography I would not have attend the class. I asked for a refund and was offered a fraction of what the I paid. Later I spoke to a sales representative of that company and detailed my issues with the course. He was trying to sell me some more classes. He said he would pass my concerns on the the company. I never heard anything back from them.

BlueMorel Loc: Southwest Michigan

I would rather see you go to an accredited state college. AI, as people have said, is EXPENSIVE!!! for what you get. The advantage of getting a BFA in photography is that a broader base of classes will help you with the intangible skills of learning to think and observe broadly that will help you develop your vision. Any community college will have a digital photography class that teaches you the skills.

NCMtnMan Loc: N. Fork New River, Ashe Co., NC

I would suggest that you first sit down and make a list of the things you feel like you are deficient in. Then find a photographer who is willing to give you some meaningful critique of your work and thoughts on what areas they feel you need to improve. That will help you determine where you are and where you want to go. Then you can genuinely evaluate whether this schooling is going to help you in those areas or not. It would be a sad waste of money to sign up for this and find out too late that it isn't really going to help.

I see that you are in Raleigh. I used to live in Cary. Retired to the mountains up in Ashe County. Are you in any photography clubs? If not, then you might want to see what's available in the area. They can be most helpful, and it's free advice. If you are into nature photography, there is a local chapter of CNPA in the area. Check it out at: http://www.cnpa.org/

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

If you want that approach to work for you, it probably will! Each of us has a different blend of learning needs and learning styles.

Whatever you do, remember these components of competency development:

Introductory overview (goal setting and course scope or definition)

Education (drawing out a deep interest in, and understanding of the field of study)

Instruction (learning, step by step, how to DO something)

Demonstration (watching someone do what you are instructed to do)

Training (repetitive practice with tools, materials, and typical situations)

Evaluation (instructor/trainer review, guidance, and redirection)

Testing and competency demonstration (proving to yourself and others that you have the knowledge, skills, and confidence to perform on your own)

If you consciously follow those steps, or incorporate them into your learning environment, you have a very high probability of success.

canon Lee

Hi shooter... I worked, hands on, for a successful studio for 5 yrs, doing remotes, special events, tons of studio work.. I must say I could not have learned what I have learned in a class room filled with other students... Class rooms are for basics, and basics are available on line for free... Its the application of what you learn that creates experience!

b roll wanabee

If you don't need the degree just audit a few of the photography courses. Over half the classes are going to be Gen ed or something not related to making you a better photographer. The 100 level classes are probably going to be too slow.

If I was rich I would hang around colleges and take about 12 credit hours a year.
Go to the university book store and look at the books that they are going to make you buy.

Go there for what you want to learn and skip the rest. You will probably meet people to do photography stuff with. Plus college is cool.

thephotoman Loc: Rochester, NY

Fotoman150, I think this is a good idea. I earned an associates degree in photography at 65. I went to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online. I learned a lot. Yes, much can be learned for free from many sources, however, I learned things I did not know I needed to learn. Check for grants and loans to help you. Good luck and I hope you decide to go for it.
Will you be attending a brick and mortar or online institution?

canon Lee

Photoman.. "Now I want to make EXCEPTIONAL photos". After you know the basics of how a camera works, comes the real test of "making EXCEPTIONAL photos, its called talent... You can know all about cameras even engineering knowledge and if you don't have talent you pictures will always be mundane. However, If you just know the basics and have a creative eye you can produce above average photos.... I don't know everything about cameras, but I have an art background that others get excited about.. I capture that something special, character, interest, I tell the story, but not all of it, leaving the viewer free to add their perception... Maybe you need to take an art course Photoman.... Learn what composition is, texture interests, shading, highlights, cropping, and so on... Its the content of the picture not the perfect camera settings... Some famous painters do not paint well but are famous for their colors and shapes... Did you know that Van Gogh, "Van Gogh only sold one painting during his lifetime Red Vineyard at Arles".

ICN3S Loc: Cave Junction, OR

Have you checked out Rocky Mountain School of Photography ?https://rmsp.com

rbmartiniv Loc: Nacogdoches, TX

Have you considered Rocky Mountain School of Photography? They have a "summer intensive" that you may be interested in.

thephotoman Loc: Rochester, NY

CanonLee, there are 2 photomans in this dialogue. One, the op, is Fotoman150. The other is me spelled Potoman. I believe your post was referring to Fotoman150. School will guide one to think of composition, lighting and pp. Yes, there are some very talented photoghers who never got a degree. I know some attend workshops in a specific area of interest. So, they also receive help in upgrading their skills.