Online Web Design Schools & Colleges

Web Design Online Colleges

In order to work in the web design field, a bachelor's degree is usually required but an associate degree can help lead to a web design career as well. Whereas someone with a bachelor's degree in web design could more easily advance to managerial positions, someone with an associate degree might start as an assistant web designer. Web design programs vary from an associate in graphic design to a bachelor's in fine arts or even a bachelor's in information technology, with a focus in web development. Online web design degrees often focus on both art and technical aspects of web site creation, including HTML, CSS and other web design computer languages, creating a visually appealing web layout, and how to incorporate color, style, graphics and animation. As part of a web design program, many students could create their own portfolios containing examples of their work to present to potential employers upon graduation.

When students graduate from traditional or online web design programs, they often go to work for specialized design services that are responsible for creating and publishing online advertising and marketing materials. Some will work specifically in communications, developing online communications strategies. Others will begin work as freelance web designers for small business and start-up companies, as a supplement to another full-time, salaried job. Because organizations in just about every industry have web sites, web design graduates can easily combine their expertise in web design with another passion, such as fashion or education. While most graduates of web design programs continue on in web design careers, career options as animators, game designers, motion picture or video designers, webmasters and web developers exist as well. While employment of graphic designers is expected to grow about as fast as average for all professions, demand is especially high for those with web design experience, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As of May 2010, there were 192,240 graphic designers working in the U.S. While general graphic designers earned mean annual wages of $48,140, those in the computer systems design and related services category earned higher salaries of $56,000.

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