For the second year in a row, Middle Tennessee State University’s Animation Program has earned the No. 1 spot for 2025 by Animation Career Review, an online national and international ranking resource for animation schools.
“I’m just so incredibly proud of the amazing work my colleagues and our students do day after day. The hard work has really been paying off,” said Kevin McNulty, associate professor and Animation Program coordinator.
For the first time, MTSU’s Animation Program also ranked in the Top 50 Animation Schools and Colleges in the U.S., coming in at No. 49.
“For me, it validates all the extra time and effort we’ve devoted to our animation program to strengthen the curriculum, develop new and better opportunities for students, and improve students’ overall experience at MTSU. And for us to crack the Top 50 animation schools in the U.S., that was icing on the cake,” McNulty said.
The animation program also ranked No. 7 for the Top 25 Animation B.S. Programs in the U.S., No. 9 in the top 25 Animation Schools and Colleges in the South, and No. 18 for the Top 40 Public Animation Schools and Colleges in the U.S. in categories comparing animation programs of 200 schools across the U.S.
The Animation Career Review rankings are based on information collected from the college and university websites, surveys, LinkedIn and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, along with analysis of the following criteria:
- Academic reputation.
- Admission selectivity.
- Employment data.
- Depth and breadth of the program faculty.
- Value as it relates to tuition and indebtedness.
- Graduation rate.
- Retention rate.
“With how robust our curriculum is now, students essentially get a private school education, but at a public-school cost,” McNulty said. “One of the main things we believe we excel at is all the additional opportunities outside the classroom we offer students.
“Students can get real-world paid experience by getting hired by our in-house animation studio, MT IMAGINE. Students can even hop onto faculty-developed projects, like our own animated short films, and earn IMDb.com credit before they even graduate.”
Senior animation student Dylan Womack, who will graduate in December, said the real-world opportunities she has had during her MTSU studies will be invaluable when she begins her professional career.
“I’ve gained real-world animation experience at MT Imagine Studios here on campus, which offers students paid opportunities to work for clients. I’ve gained industry-specific teamwork, organization, and time management experience that I wouldn’t have otherwise gotten as a full-time student, along with professional content to put on my resume and portfolio,” Womack explained.
Housed in the Department of Media Arts within the College of Media and Entertainment, MTSU’s Animation Program is among department offerings that also include interactive media, media management, photography, and video and film production.
“Our curriculum is very portfolio-based. Students are not only creating the types of work and developing the skills companies need, but we have them hit the ground by beginning to build their portfolios during the first semester of freshmen year,” McNulty continued. “They continue to curate their work all the way into their senior year where they create an animated short film in teams, resulting in their best work to date.”
Womack said the growth the program has seen just in the time she has been enrolled has been unbelievable.
“The animation industry is changing all the time, so I love that we follow that kind of flexibility with our projects and curriculum. It’s wild how much MTSU’s animation program has grown and expanded over the past few years I’ve been here,” she said.
For more information about the program and all the programs offered in the Department of Media Arts, visit https://mediaarts.mtsu.edu/.
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