Graphic and web designers create a wide variety of materials, including advertisements, displays, packaging, signs, logos, web sites, and web pages to meet the needs and preferences of their various clients for communication and promotion. Graphic and web designers work as in-house designers for a company, as staff designers for a graphic design firm, or as freelance designers. This growing profession needs creative minds that have excellent visualization, computer, and design skills.
- Overview
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Is This Program for You?
Have you been told that you have creative and visualization skills? Do you enjoy analyzing design decisions and often think it could have been done better? If you are attracted to the design elements of color, type, shape, illustration, and layout, then creating web sites and print-ready design solutions can be a very satisfying career choice.
Students entering the Graphic & Web Design program should:
- Enjoy working in a computer-based environment using multiple software packages.
- Possess analytical and creative ability.
- Have good oral and written communication skills.
- Understand how to access and document complex information.
- Possess good customer relation skills.
- Be willing to make decisions and solve problems.
- Continuously update graphic and web design knowledge.
- Enjoy organizing, planning and prioritizing work.
Program Basics
- Associate degree, requiring two years or more to complete
- Combination of face to face and online classes
- High school articulation courses accepted
- Financial aid available to students who qualify
- Classes start in August and January
- Modified plan available
- Student laptops are included in this program
- Curriculum & Costs
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Cost of Attendance (COA) 26-27
Cost of Attendance (COA) is a total of all the usual expenses of being a student. The COA sets the maximum amount of financial aid a student can receive.
Category Amount Tuition and Fees $5,240 Living Expenses (Housing and Food) $10,910 Books and Supplies $1,463 Personal Expenses $3,084 Transportation 3,899 Charger Tech 360 Fee $700 Loan Fees $85 Yearly Total (Living Away from Home) $25,381 1 Semester Total (Living Away from Home) $12,691 Based on Wisconsin Residents.
Approximate school costs are for a full-time (12 credit) student over a semester span of 17 weeks.
Fees are legislated by the Wisconsin Technical College System Board.
These costs are estimates and are subject to change without notice.
- Admissions & Requirements
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Admission Requirements
Academic Preparedness Requirements
- Before you can be fully accepted into your program, you need to complete the requirements below. These are the same requirements you may see in your SWTC Student Portal.
- Submit Official High School, College, Military Transcripts, and Test Scores (Not Required)
Have documents sent directly to:- Email: admissions@swtc.edu
- Mail: Southwest Wisconsin Technical College, Attn: Admissions, 1800 Bronson Blvd, Fennimore, WI 53809
- Meet with Your Advisor for an Admissions Meeting
Schedule an admission meeting with your program advisor to complete your student success plan, including a career assessment and academic map and support plan.
To schedule your meeting, go to the Appointments page. Find your advisor in the list, then select Make an Appointment under their contact information.
Appointments are available on campus or virtually.
If you want to check which of these requirements you still need to complete, log in to your SWTC Student Portal, go to My Profile → Document Center, and make sure All Programs is selected.
- Submit Official High School, College, Military Transcripts, and Test Scores (Not Required)
- Outcomes
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Program Outcomes
At the completion of the program, students are expected to be able to:
- Apply the principles of design to develop strategic marketing and communication products and services
- Demonstrate proficiency in the use of design software, tools and technology
- Implement creative solutions from concept through completion using a formal process
- Apply effective legal and ethical business practices and project management skills
- Communicate artwork rationale in formal and informal settings
Technical Skill Attainment (TSA)
This TSA scoring guide will be used to document your attainment of technical program outcomes for the Graphic & Web Design Degree. To meet the requirements on the scoring guide, you will be asked to draw upon the skills and concepts that have been developed throughout the program and are necessary for successful employment in your field. Results will be used to inspire continual improvement of teaching and learning in Wisconsin Technical College System. In addition, this assessment will provide feedback to you about your performance.
- Career Opportunities
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The combination of graphic and web design curriculum in this degree prepares graduates to work for businesses that require support in both graphic and web design areas as a graphic designer, web designer, motion graphic artist, desktop publisher, and more.
Southwest Tech's Career Services Center offers services to assist students looking for job placement.
Find a Job - Transfers
- Prior Learning
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Credit for Prior Learning
Experience Pays! You've Been There... You've Done That... Let's See If You Can Get Credit For It!
Credit for prior learning gives you opportunities to earn credit for college-level knowledge that you have already acquired. This may be the result of work or volunteer experiences, certifications, apprenticeships, military training, extensive self-instruction, or professional development. Credit for Prior Learning affords you the opportunity to accelerate the completion of your educational goals.
For more information on Credit for Prior Learning see our Credit for Prior Learning page.
Graphic and Web Design Courses that may have Credit for Prior Learning options:
Course # Course Title Challenge Exam
(Demonstration)Challenge Exam
(Standard)CLEPCredentialPortfolio10-201-138 Typography 
10-801-136 English Composition I CLEP Test - College Composition 10-801-198 Speech 10-804-123 Math with Business Apps 10-809-196 Intro to Sociology