As tuition costs rise and the credit crunch makes student loans harder to get, more aspiring photographers are looking at community colleges as an affordable and attractive educational alternative. Photography programs on community college campuses are among the most respected and best equipped in the country. Emphasizing technical and vocational training, their course offerings range from the fundamentals of photography to specialized professional training, at a cost that is significantly less than four-year Bachelor’s programs.

Community colleges usually offer a certificate in photography, an associate of arts or associate of science degree. Some schools also allow students to take individual classes—an option that attracts working professionals who want to learn new skills. Students in reputable programs who choose to transfer to four-year colleges find that many of their community-college credits can be applied toward a Bachelor’s degree.

Featured here are profiles of three community college photo programs that make the cut.


Teaching Photography with a Business Mix
The photo program at Austin Community College (ACC) in Austin, TX, is older than the college that houses it. Started in 1968 as a federally funded workplace education program—and founded by Professional Photographers of America’s Gilmore Williams—the “Austin Model Project” became part of ACC when the college opened its doors in 1973.

“At ACC, we’re big believers in teaching our students about the business and technical sides of photography,” says Bill Woodhull, department chair since 1973. “The good news is you can teach anyone to be technically proficient, which is not always popular with photography students—they want it to be all about art and creativity—but in today’s market, you have to be technically proficient as well as business savvy.”

Students in ACC’s Photographic Technology program can pursue different areas of focus: Advertising-fashion and people-portrait concentrations offer an associate of applied science degree, while certificates in categories called photographic artist and digital assistant prepare students to pursue careers as photographic retouchers, print finishers, print colorists, print restorers or a photographer’s assistant. “First semester, we have ten sections in beginning photography; second semester, we have three sections in intermediate photography,” says Woodhull. “You can see the weed-ing out process from there. In the third and fourth semesters, which are during the summer months, students start to specialize in either portrait/wedding photography or advertising/fashion.

ACC’s associate’s degree in photography, which has about 250 students enrolled and graduates 12 to 15 each year, requires 15 hours in core college courses, a studio management course, an accounting course, a marketing class and a public speaking course because, as Woodhull points out, “you can’t hide behind your camera—you have to be able to communicate with your clients."

Other selling points include the Reagan Bradshaw Endowed Scholarship, and an articulation agreement with Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, CA, which guarantees admission to students with a grade point average of 3.0 or higher. “When our students go on to Brooks,” he says, “depending on the program they go into, they get to bypass the first five or six trimesters, and that leaves them with about five to go for graduation. Granted, we only have about two or three students a year who participate, but that number seems to be enough to make it worthwhile to Brooks.” He adds that there are only one or two other community colleges with which Brooks has made this agreement. Austin-based photographer Casey Dunn went on from ACC to graduate from Brooks and now runs his own business shooting architecture and interiors.

Woodhull stresses that all his staff are certified in the software they teach and that he relies on local working pros as the bulk of the program’s educators. While he continues to stress technical know-how and everything digital in his department, the program also offers one class in the history of photography and a couple of fine-art classes, to “give students an opportunity to experiment outside that box we’re creating for them. Though, he adds with a chuckle, “before you think outside the box, you have to know what the box is.”

School Stats

Website: www.austincc.edu Degrees Offered: Associate of applied science in: people/portrait or advertising/fashion photography Length of Program: 2.5 years, 71 credits Student Population: 37,000 students on seven campuses Size of Department: Approximately 575 students during the school year, 240 in summer. Five full-time and 22 adjunct faculty. Three shooting studios, four computer labs and a finishing room. Tuition and Fees (2008): Costs for the entire program are: in-district: $3,692; out-of-district but in state: $9,940; out-of-state or foreign: $21,016. Additional fees: approximately $700. Transfers: Articulation agreement with Brooks.

Learning from the Pros
Orange Coast Community College (OCC) in Costa Mesa, CA., offers two photography certificates and an associates degree and has an enrollment of about 800 students, and each semester its 29 photography courses attract over 1,400 students. Blade Gillissen, the department chair, says the school’s size has its advantages.

He explains that the school can keep costs down by buying in bulk. Recognizing how many students will be using their equipment, many camera and printer manufacturers offer OCC more than their usual educational discount. The photography program has its own digital facility, a gallery space, two darkrooms and five studios, each equipped with a Leaf digital back. Students have about $2 million worth of equipment at their disposal, including 40 Hasselblads, 35 view cameras, 25 Canon 5Ds, numerous other DSLRs, compatible lenses and professional lighting equipment. By paying an optional $100 equipment fee each semester, a student can borrow as much gear as he or she wants as often as it’s needed. Gillissen explains, “Our slogan is: We provide a quality photographic education to everyone, and the way we do that is to let people come in and use a Hasselblad without having to go out and buy it.”

Despite the school’s size, Gillissen notes that they try to maintain a family orientation. Class size for upper-level courses is kept between 18 and 25 students. “Faculty go to students’ openings and help them forge careers,” he notes.

The program has eight full-time faculty and about 15 part-time instructors, including many working professionals who teach specialized courses such as architectural photography, portraiture, fashion photography and advertising illustration. Professional photographers based in Southern California serve on the program’s advisory board, and working pros from around the country have visited classes and critiqued assignments. “We like to bring in professionals to meet the students and help them understand on a day-to-day basis what working in the market feels like,” Gillissen explains. Fashion photographer Jennifer Rocholl, who attended OCC before studying at Art Center College of Design, visits almost every semester. “She comes back and helps the students understand what the business is like,” he adds.

For California residents, tuition at OCC is $20 per unit; a three-unit class such as basic photography would cost $60, while one semester of professional photography would cost $80. A photography certificate requires 42 units, but the school has also started a certificate in digital technical assisting that only requires 18 units.

Gillissen estimates that four to six students a year move on to four-year BA programs, and they are able to transfer many of their credits. “We have a good relationship with Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara and Art Center College of Design in Pasadena,” he says, adding that the San Francisco Art Institute has a scholarship set up for OCC graduates. As other colleges and universities see enrollment affected by the recession and tightening credit on student loans, Gillissen finds that other four-year schools are contacting him more than ever to ask, “What can we do to get your students to take a look at us.”

School Stats

Website: www.occphoto.com Degrees Offered: Associate of arts (AA) degree in photography and certificate programs in still photography and digital tech assisting. Length of Program: 2 years (though many students take two and a half) for AA degree, which requires 60 units (18 in photography; the rest in general education). Photography certificate requires 42 units; digital tech certificate requires 18 units. Student Population: 24,000 each semester. Size of Department: 6 full time faculty and 12 part time faculty teach 29 photography courses, taken by 1,400 attendees, including 800 certificate students. Tuition and Fees (2008): $20 per unit in-state; $201 out of state; $211 foreign. Optional equipment fee of $100 per semester. Transfers: No formal agreements but students often transfer to Brooks Institute, Art Center College of Design, San Fransisco Art Institute.

Tech Studies and Real-World Experience
The photographic technology program at Asheboro, NC-based Randolph Community College prides itself on a rigorous curriculum and a work-study program that prepares graduates for entry-level jobs in the photography market. While many of Randolph’s graduates further their education at Savannah College of Art and Design, Rochester Institute of Technology and other four-year schools, Randolph department chair Greg Stewart points out that “the vast majority have two years of schooling and a job as their goal.” Many of these, he says, already have some college credits or even a bachelor’s degree. “Some might be students who were in an arts program and decided to concentrate in photography,” he notes. For them, he says, Randolph’s technical and business training offers “a kind of graduate program.”

The two years of study required for Randolph’s associate of applied science degree in photography is highly structured, with few electives. Photography program applicants are screened for admission, and about 80 students are accepted annually. In their first year, all students must take classes in basic photographic technique, large- and small-format photography, printing and photo finishing, portrait and object lighting as well as humanities. By the end of their first year, Stewart says, “students can handle lights and large-format cameras.”

Second-year students choose one of four concentrations, each with his or her own specialized classes. Commercial photography majors study still life and portraiture, business management and other courses relevant to advertising photography. Thanks to the proximity of the large furniture manufacturing studios based in High Point, NC, many commercial photography graduates find immediate employment as catalog shooters. The photojournalism program covers news and sports photography, layout and design, as well as ethical issues related to news coverage. Portrait studio management covers studio and location photography, retouching, posing and the logistics of wedding work. Biocommunications majors learn about macro photography, specimen documentation, portraiture and other skills needed for hospital or forensic lab work, though past graduates of this program have also secured positions in museums and universities. In every field, Stewart says, “we try to teach them about business and pricing, so when they leave here, they’re not knocking the floor out from under the market.”

In their second year, students spend half of each 16-week semester in on-the-job internships. In addition, students are encouraged to research their own placements around the country and abroad. Noted photographers and organizations that have worked with past Randolph interns include Michael Grecco, Nick Vedros, Lois Greenfield, the Smithsonian Museum and a number of newspapers. “The knowledge they gain, the hands-on experience they gain, is invaluable,” Stewart says. “The students return from their internships transformed.”

The program is housed in a sprawling 35,000-square-foot facility, which includes two lab/classrooms, each equipped with 25 Mac workstations, as well as digital, color and black-and-white labs. The main studio is even large enough to accommodate a heavy truck from the nearby Volvo plant during a rental shoot. One of the rental stipulations for any photographer or client is that students must be allowed to pop in to watch the action. Stewart recalls, “When the studio was used to photograph a NASCAR team, students could see that a large part of the photographer’s time was taken up with making sure everyone—including the client—was fed and happy. It’s not all about photography.”

Of the program’s eight faculty members, all have professional experience, and most are past graduates. “The most junior person here has been with us five years,” Stewart says. “I think that’s why we have such a strong program. Many of us have ties to the values of the original founders: to provide a state-of-the-art education to students.”

School Stats

Website: www.randolph.edu/photo Degrees Offered: Associate of applied science (AAS) degree in photography. Length of Program: 2 years (6 consecutive semesters, which includes summers); AAS degree requires 20 to 23 photography courses (depending on area of concentration), five to six general education courses and two cooperative education (work-study) courses. Student Population: 2,347 in fall 2008. Size of Department: 135 students; seven full-time and one part-time instructor; lab manager. Tuition and Fees (2008): $672 per semester, in-state students; $3,732, out-of-state. No additional lab or studio fees. All “wet” materials (ink, darkroom chemicals) are provided by the program; students are responsible for all “dry” materials (film and paper).