If you are an ambitious high school student looking to get into graphic design, you should consider participating in a graphic design course. Pursuing such courses can be a great opportunity to explore the fundamentals of graphic design, which you can later use to create tangible projects that would make for great additions to your portfolio. 

Additionally, opting for courses is also a great way to signal to college admission officers that you are passionate about graphic design as you go out of your way to explore the topic. In this blog, we’ll cover 10 graphic design courses that you can opt for as a high school student!

1. Pratt Institute: Graphic Design Certificate

Cost: $8,000 is the approximate cost for the certificate. Do note that the individual courses themselves differ in cost. You can find out more about the financial aid options here!

Location: In person or via Zoom

Application Deadline: Application deadlines vary between courses. 

Program Dates: Course dates can be viewed here,

Eligibility: Open to everyone.

Credits awarded: No credits, Certificate of Completion will be awarded upon successful completion of the program. 

The Graphic Design Certificate offered by Pratt Institute is a program where you’ll be a part of interactive classes, either virtually or in-person, and you’ll delve into the basics of design through courses such as ‘Brand Design and Corporate Identity,’ ‘Introduction to Typography,’ and more!

To complete the certificate, you must mandatorily attend 4 courses, after which you can opt for electives in fields such as ‘AI Design’ or ‘Fashion New Media’ (among others). An added bonus is that you will need to complete courses utilizing Adobe Creative Cloud, which is an industry-standard in the graphic design field! 

2. Shillington Education: Graphic Design Course

Cost: $12,896

Location: Online

Application Deadline: Dates may vary based on program

Program Dates: For the full-time modules, the January 2025 cohort and May 2025 cohort are open for enrollment. If you are interested in the part-time modules, the February 2025 and September 2025 cohorts are currently open! 

Eligibility: Open to everyone.

Credits awarded: No credits awarded apart from Certificate of Completion

In the Shillington Graphic Design Course program, you will attend live classes, attempt the 47+ exercises, and even apply your skills through the real-world briefs presented by the professors.  Through this course, you will engage with design foundations such as design theory or concept development and will then progress to exploring applied design and even design for employment. 

There are 2 options for completing this course - full-time and part-time. As a high school student, we’d recommend opting for the part-time course, which will involve 6 hours of live teaching and about 5 hours of independent learning per week! An added bonus is that there are 3-4 streams in different time zones (3 streams for part-time, 4 streams for full-time), so you can opt for classes that work around your schedule. 

3. Rhode Island School of Design: Residential Summer Pre-Collegiate Program (Graphic Design courses)

Cost: $12,095 for the residential program and $9,300 for the commuter program + $60 Application Fee

Location: Rhode Island School of Design Campus, Providence, RI

Application Deadline: Applications for Summer 2025 open November 2024.

Program Dates: June 28th to August 2nd, 2025

Eligibility: Open to rising high school juniors and seniors

Credits awarded: No Credits awarded.

The Summer Immersive Pre-College Program by the Rhode Island School of Design is a 5-week summer program where you will experience college-level courses that include studio classes, critiques, and even projects! Additionally, you will even have the opportunity to go on field trips to the Nature Lab and RISD Museum. 

An advantage of opting for this program is the prestige associated with RISD and the opportunity to access renowned resources that might otherwise be inaccessible. This program is a great way to signal to college admission officers that you have the capabilities of dealing with university-level rigor. 

4. Sessions College: Professional Certificate in Graphic Design

Cost: $2,750 for the Program Certificate. If you wish to opt for the Professional Certificate PLUS, the total cost is $3,750. Note that there is a $50 discount if you pay the full tuitionn upfront. 

Location: Online

Application Deadline: N/A

Program Dates: Next program starts December 1, 2024. Do note that the program is a 360-hour program that can approximately be completed within 9 months. 

Eligibility: Open to everyone.

Credits awarded: No credits awarded apart from Certificate of Completion

In this self-paced program by Sessions College, you will explore the various software programs that graphic designers commonly use, namely Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign! Throughout the program, you will cover key concepts and functions in these programs such as producing digital images, illustrations and fixing layouts. 

Apart from the course instruction, you can also expect class assignments where you will apply your theoretical concepts to produce tangible products such as posters, magazines and logos.

5. Adobe Illustrator for Beginners - Daniel Scott

Cost: Free

Location: Online

Application Deadline: N/A

Program Dates: Self Paced

Eligibility: Open to everyone.

Credits awarded: No credits awarded 

This free-of-cost course will allow you to gain experience with Adobe Illustrator, a tool that is commonly used in Graphic Design. The course contains 20 modules that cover various aspects of the tool such as grouping and arranging, working with color, liquidifying and distorting and more. 

Apart from the course instruction, you can also expect exercises such as drawing a custom logo that will allow you to put your newly learned skills to the test! An added bonus is that this course is self-paced so you can easily fit it into your schedule. 

6. Udemy: Logo Design Fundamentals

Cost: Free Tutorial

Location: Online on Udemy

Application Deadline: N/A

Program Dates: Self Paced

Eligibility: Open to everyone.

Credits awarded: No credit. 

Udemy’s Logo Design Fundamentals course is a self-paced online course where you will cover the key aspects of designing a logo. In the course itself, you will learn about tools such as Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and Reader, and familiarize yourself with the step-by-step process that comes with finalizing a logo for a client.

The course has 7 modules and you will delve into concepts such as vector elements, creating initial sketches, choosing fonts and saving the logo for print (among others). An advantage of this course is that it is both self-paced and free of cost so you can fit this course into your schedule at no additional cost! 

7. Color for Designers: Exploration, Theory, & Application

Cost: $49 (there is currently a sale with the class being offered at $24)

Location: Online

Application Deadline: N/A

Program Dates: Self Paced

Eligibility: Open to everyone.

Credits awarded: No credits awarded

In this course, you will learn about color theory, its fundamental aspects and how to apply this theory in graphic design. The course will cover important terminology, how to view color in context, contrast grids and even give tips for creating color palettes.

Apart from the theory, you will also cover different analog and digital projects so you can better grasp color theory and its application. The 20 modules also include different hands-on exercises that you can use to apply your understanding of color theory in tangible projects. 

8. NYC School of Arts - Continuing Education

Cost: $150 - $300

Location: Online 

Application Deadline: N/A

Program Dates: Different courses and Workshops may have differing dates

Eligibility: Open to everyone.

Credits awarded: No credits awarded

The NYC School of Arts offers many online courses and workshops taken by industry professionals and distinguished faculty that can equip students with the in-demand skills and knowledge of current trends in the sector. Some areas they cover are visual narratives. Illustration and comics, and design and advertising (among others). 

Some courses offered under their designing and advertising section are color correction using DaVinci Resolve and even how to apply AI in creative careers. 

9. University of Central Florida - Continuing Education

Cost: $129 - $155

Location: Online on the UCF Platform

Application Deadline: N/A

Program Dates: A few programs are self-paced, while others are according to differing schedules. You can check over here

Eligibility: Open to everyone.

Credits awarded: No credits awarded 

The Continuing Education Platform by the University of Central Florida offers various courses that will prepare you for either college or career by equipping you with different skills. If you are interested in graphic design, we recommend checking out their Graphic Arts courses that include ‘Instructional Design Training’, ‘Introduction to InDesign CC’ and more! 

One course you could also check out is ‘Adobe Illustrator CC’ which is a self-paced course that covers all topics required for the illustrator certification exam, such as vector illustrations, typography and logos. 

10. Graphic Design Specialisation - California Institute of Arts

Cost: Free to enroll; certificate is paid for. Financial Aid is available.

Location: Coursera

Application Deadline: N/A

Program Dates: 2 months from starting date at 10 hours a week

Eligibility: Open to everyone.

Credits awarded: No credits awarded apart from Certificate of Completion

This Specialization in Graphic Design has a series of 5 courses for students to learn from the faculty at the California Institute of Arts. The courses are the following: Fundamentals of Graphic Design, Introduction to Typography, Introduction to Imagemaking, Ideas from the History of Graphic Design, and Brand New Brand.

You should ideally start from course 1, which covers the fundamentals of graphic design, such as the importance of visuals, rhythm, and pattern in the design, using a scale, weight, space, and more in composition, typography, and exploring different image-making techniques!

If you’re looking for a competitive mentored research program in subjects like data science, machine learning, political theory, biology, and chemistry, consider applying to Horizon’s Research Seminars and Labs! This is a selective virtual research program that lets you engage in advanced research and develop a research paper on a subject of your choosing. Horizon has worked with 1000+ high school students so far and offers 600+ research specializations for you to choose from. You can find the application link here.

If you’re looking to build a project/research paper in the field of AI & ML, consider applying to Veritas AI! 

Veritas AI is founded by Harvard graduate students. Through the programs, you get a chance to work 1:1 with mentors from universities like Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and more to create unique, personalized projects. In the past year, we had over 1000 students learn AI & ML with us. You can apply here!

Image Source - Pratt Institute Seal