AnimSchool is
accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC). ACCSC is a recognized accrediting agency by the U.S. Department of Education.
AnimSchool is an online school for 3D animation, modeling and rigging. We have the policies below in place to help students get an education that will lead to employment in a competitive market.
AnimSchool is registered and compliant with the UTAH POSTSECONDARY SCHOOL AND STATE AUTHORIZATION ACT (Title 13, Chapter 34, Utah Code).
To apply for AnimSchool, prospective students need to (1) be 18 years or older prior to the first week of class, (2) present a High School diploma, a
G.E.D., official college documentation (transcript, degree), or its foreign equivalent, (3) have basic computer skills on Windows or Mac, and (4)
must submit an artistic portfolio or demo reel as part of their application.
Students are not required to have a working knowledge of Autodesk Maya before their first
term begins. We allow students to begin who are brand new to 3D software, however, they must start with the Introduction to Maya course.
Students who wish to take a single class, or cannot commit to a Program, or in some instances have to leave a program, are considered
Express Students. This often includes professionals looking to level up their skills in a specific area.
Express Students may take any course at AnimSchool, provided they have prior Review Board approval or have completed any required
prerequisite course(s), and agree to the terms of service. Express Students qualify for one additional term of access to the AnimSchool
website upon completion of their course at AnimSchool.
Express Students are not eligible to graduate from AnimSchool unless they apply or petition to join a Program prior to fulfilling
the graduation requirements. There is no certification for individual courses.
Express Students that wish to join a Program may apply to do so by contacting the AnimSchool Administration Team. They must
declare which Track/Program that they are joining at that time.
To take a class "Express", use the Apply button to the right. During the application process, specify the single course you would like to take.
Students are graded according to their performance for every graded assignment. Most weeks will have an assignment, but not every week's assignment will be graded. Often an in-progress multi-week assignment will be closely monitored and commented upon but not graded until completion.
The grading system is a U.S. standard A through F letter grade, with a C or higher course grade being required to continue to the next course. If a student fails to receive a C grade or higher, they will be required to retake that course or an equivalent, at their expense, to continue to the next course toward graduation.
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F
NUMERIC SCALE
4.0
3.7
3.3
3.0
2.7
2.3
2.0
1.7
1.3
1.0
.7
0
PERCENTAGE SCALE
93-100
90-92
87-89
83-86
80-82
77-79
73-76
70-72
67-69
63-66
60-62
0-59
To graduate, a student must first be enrolled in the 3D Animation or 3D Character Program and complete all required courses and the required number of
elective classes, each with a C (73%) grade or higher and a grade B-(80%) or higher in the final/highest level class.
In addition to their regular class, Program Students (in the last four classes) must participate in at least one General Reviews or Art Class weekly, at
least seven out of the 10 weeks per term to qualify for graduation. Live attendance or watching recordings counts. Students must abide by the standards of
conduct and resolve any such issues, probation status, or non-payment status.
Students must complete at least 25% of the program requirements at AnimSchool to be eligible for graduation.
AnimSchool holds a graduation event each year to honor the graduates completing the course of study during the past four terms. This is normally the 2nd or 3rd week of November.
If a student is not admitted to AnimSchool after applying, they will receive a full refund of the application fee. Students may reapply the next term to be admitted, if desired.
Prospective students should review the enrollment agreement during the enrollment process located
here.After applying to, and being accepted as a student, by AnimSchool, and paying the $125 Application/Registration
fee, students have three business days to change their mind, and withdraw from the school. If they withdraw within
those three business days (ending at midnight on Mountain Time); on the third day, they are eligible for a full refund of all fees and any tuition paid,
including the $125 Application/Registration Fee.
After the three-day period, students may withdraw before they participate in AnimSchool classes (including General Reviews and drawing classes, or watching
recordings of any class) or download any materials or tools from the AnimSchool site, for a full refund, minus the $125 Application/Registration fee.
Administrative Withdrawal: This is initiated by the school - Students may be withdrawn from a course, Program, or withdrawn from AnimSchool entirely.
Students who have not qualified for a leave of absence or opted to use an available term break and who do not select a class by the registration deadline
should respond to administrators' inquiries, or they may be subject to automatic withdrawal from AnimSchool.
Students who fail to make satisfactory academic progress (fail a course multiple times) may be subject to withdrawal.
Failure to attend the course entirely, or watch any recordings in a term, may be grounds for administrative withdrawal.
Any necessary refunds will be processed within 30 days of the administrative withdrawal taking effect.
Prior to the start of a term, a student may withdraw from a class or from AnimSchool for a full refund of tuition paid
for the proceeding term, minus any applicable fees.
After the term has started, a student may withdraw from a term. Students are obligated to pay any remaining tuition balance or
will receive a refund based on the refund policy.
Students withdrawing from a course will be required to start the course over from the beginning if they join the same course at a later time.
Refunds are calculated based on the term week of the stated withdrawal request (assuming that no additional classes were attended after the request or
school assets were accessed or downloaded). A term week begins on Sunday at midnight, and ends on Saturday before midnight Mountain Time. Withdrawal
can be initiated by emailing:
admin@animschool.edu or calling (801 765-7677) with a clear request for withdrawal.
Withdrawal dates are based on the time of the request, so an email request will be processed based on the date and time the request is received by AnimSchool.
Prior to the start of a term, a student may withdraw from AnimSchool for a full refund of tuition paid for the proceeding term, minus any applicable fees.
During the first week of a term, students can withdraw from the term/class or school; however, because AnimSchool has already employed their instructors for the
term, students are obligated to pay 1/3 of the agreed-upon tuition for the term, even if they cannot participate in the term.
After the first week of a term ends (11:59 pm Mountain Time, one week from the start of the term) and before the 8th week of classes begins, students can
withdraw but are obligated to pay 2/3 of the agreed-upon tuition for the term.
Beyond the start of the 8th week, there is no tuition refund for withdrawing from a class.
Application fees and other fees will not be refunded.
A 100% tuition refund for Iowa students who withdraw within the first two calendar weeks after instruction begins.
If an Iowa student terminates from any of the school's programs or courses after the first two calendar weeks of the semester, the student will receive a pro rata refund that is not less than ninety-five percent of the amount of tuition charged to the student multiplied by the ratio of the number of calendar days remaining in the school period to the total number of calendar days in the school period, up to sixty percent (60%) of program completion.
If the terminating student has completed sixty percent (60%) or more of a school period, the student will not receive a refund of charges.
The Application/Registration Fee ($125) is non-refundable after 3 days from when it is paid.
Exceptional Policy
If, at any time, an Iowa student terminates a postsecondary educational program after the first two calendar weeks due to the student’s physical incapacity or, for a program that requires classroom instruction, due to the transfer of the student’s spouse’s employment to another city, the terminating student shall receive a refund of the tuition charges in an amount that equals the amount of tuition charged to the student multiplied by the ratio of the remaining number of calendar days in the school period to the total number of calendar days in the school period.
A refund shall be provided for students within 30 days following the date of AnimSchool’s determination that a student has terminated from AnimSchool.
The school may cancel a class when the number of students scheduled is too small, or when the
instructor withdraws for any reason. AnimSchool may also retain a class but substitute another instructor if an instructor withdraws at any time.
In the case of cancellation, students may select an alternative class. AnimSchool Administrators will contact the students impacted and provide any applicable options.
Students desiring to change classes to a different time slot and/or instructor may register for a different class at any point before the start of the second week of classes, if there is an available position in the desired class. (If the student misses a class session of the new class as a result of transferring, they are not entitled to a refund.) After the second week students may request a transfer from the AnimSchool Admins. The transfer may only be approved if the desired class has an available position. After the first week of the term students may not transfer to a different course, they may only change times or instructors within the same course.
At times, instructors may have a planned absence. Typically, the class is then rescheduled to an alternative day. On
occasions, AnimSchool provides a substitute instructor and the class continues as scheduled. Students may not request a refund or credit of any kind
as a result of the instructor substitution.
If an instructor does not attend a scheduled class due to any reason, intentional or unintentional, students are
entitled to a rescheduled class substitution. If you do not receive an email update from the instructor within 30 minutes of the scheduled class time,
the class session should be considered canceled. The instructor or substitute instructor will make every effort to accommodate the most convenient replacement
time and day.
On rare occasions, instructors may withdraw from teaching a class due to personal circumstances. In such circumstances, a suitable replacement instructor will be found to substitute for the remainder of the term. Students will not be eligible for a refund as a result of any such circumstance.
Students taking a Personal Break from AnimSchool do not have continued access to the AnimSchool website or class recordings.
Students may pay for "Break with Access", however, to retain access to General Reviews, class recordings, and drawing classes during their break. Students may choose
"Break with Access" through the class registration system.
In some cases a Leave of Absence may be appropriate. Please refer to section 6.8 and 6.9 in the AnimSchool Catalog for more information.
Each week, students should submit their assignments three hours before their class is scheduled to begin. This gives the system enough time to upload and post the materials, so they will be available for the instructor and other students to review the work during class time. Assignments submitted after that time will be graded as late, which lowers it by 10%. For example, an assignment graded at 85 will receive a grade of 75.
Students may use AnimSchool character rigs and any assets provided for their courses or ones available in the Characters and Tools section while they are
students. Students withdrawing from AnimSchool (provided their payment accounts are current), may continue to use those AnimSchool character rigs and assets.
Student access to the AnimSchool website and class recordings is limited to the time they are enrolled in a course. Students withdrawing from AnimSchool do not
have continued access to the AnimSchool website or class recordings.
Students who graduate from an AnimSchool Program may use the character rigs pertaining to the courses they passed and assets and related future character
rigs yet to be released. They also retain access to class recordings.
Students in an Express Class (a single class, not as a program student) may continue to use the character rigs and assets provided for that course, as well as
those in the Characters and Tools section, after the course is completed (provided their payment accounts are current). But Express Students do not have access
to all future character rigs. Express Students do not have continued access to the AnimSchool website or class recordings.
Students must abide by the provisions described in the AnimSchool website Terms and Conditions of Use. These are listed during the Enrollment process, or
click here.
Students must maintain a C grade (73%) or above each term to count the class as a fulfilled prerequisite towards another class. Elective
classes are not prerequisites, so a passing grade of any kind fulfills the requirement toward graduation.
Students who receive a C- (72%) or lower on a required course, wishing to graduate, must retake the class or an equivalent class at their own expense to progress.
This does not apply to classes taken Express. Express Students will receive a grade, but it does not make them more or less eligible to take another class.
Students are expected to maintain professional standards of behavior in their interactions with fellow students, administrative staff, and their instructors.
If conduct is unprofessional or would be inappropriate in the workplace, students should avoid it. AnimSchool prohibits harassment, illegal discrimination,
derogatory speech, or actions toward another AnimSchool party or any other person, using AnimSchool communications. Discrimination against any person based on
race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, marital status, or any other
characteristic is not tolerated at AnimSchool. Students should avoid offensive content in the online communities, messages, and school assignments, including
crude language, sexually explicit comments, or comments that could appear derogatory toward others.
Students are required to maintain academic integrity, honesty, and intellectual responsibility. Academic dishonesty is not tolerated at AnimSchool, including
plagiarism, cheating, fabrication, misrepresentation, or any other form of academic dishonesty that goes against AnimSchool's educational values and policy.
Failure to comply with the standards of conduct may result in Academic Probation, up to and including dismissal.
Students must agree to and abide by the terms of the enrollment agreement to continue in a Program. Failure to comply may lead to being placed on a probation status. Students will be informed of the steps they must take to avoid dismissal from AnimSchool, and they will be given ample opportunity to resolve any issues.
Students who fail to abide by the terms of admission, the standards of conduct, the terms of use for the website
https://animschool.edu,
failure to resolve probation status, or fail to resolve any non-payment issues may be considered for dismissal from AnimSchool. Students should call
(801 765-7677) or email
admin@animschool.edu to resolve any issues.
Depending on the nature of the dismissal, students may or may not be allowed to reapply to AnimSchool at a later time or to take Express Classes in the future.
Students should strive to attend all the class sessions in which they are enrolled and submit their assignments weekly. Not every weekly
assignment is graded, so failure to submit an assignment may or may not directly impact the upcoming assignment's grade. Students who
fail to submit any ungraded weekly assignments will likely fall behind.
Attendance is factored into the final course grade. Students unable to attend a class or classes should contact the instructor using the
AnimSchool private messaging system. Students should reach out to their instructor if they plan to miss class so the instructor knows to
review their work without them attending should the need arise, failure to do so will result in submissions remaining unreviewed in your
critique meeting. Instructors are under no obligation to review work that is missed due to unexplained absences. Class absences can be made
up by viewing the meeting later via the class recordings.
Students are advised that much of the opportunity for learning comes from direct interaction with the instructor during class sessions,
so they should be attending live sessions whenever possible.
AnimSchool offers services to assist students in obtaining industry positions upon graduation. Services include current job listings and information
from contacts with industry recruiters, social media coaching, and a demo reel review with a member of the AnimSchool Graduate Support Team. In addition,
many graduates' assignments appear on our social media and showcase videos and are viewed by hundreds of thousands.
Although the school provides placement assistance, the school does not guarantee job placement to graduates upon program completion. See AnimSchool's
current job placement rate here
https://animschool.edu/FAQ.aspxStudents are responsible for providing their own computer hardware and software, and there are some recommend books and one required book per program.
Students need a Windows 7 or 10 or higher PC (personal computer), or Mac OSX 10.11 or higher.
Students should have a computer than meets the needs of the 3D software they use. For Autodesk Maya, see www.autodesk.edu. As an example, Maya lists these system recommendations for running version 2019 on Windows: Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® 7 (SP1), Microsoft Windows 10 Anniversary Update (64-bit only)(version 1607 or higher) operating system / Apple® Mac OS® X 10.11.x, 10.12.x, 10.13.x, 10.14.x operating system
AnimSchool does not provide installation or technical software support for getting your computer running with the animation software.
AnimSchool supports working in Autodesk Maya software, which you can download for free from Autodesk. Instructions for getting the software are given after a student is accepted into a program.
Autodesk Maya is the industry standard in high-end productions.
AnimSchool is designed and tested on major browsers Chrome and Firefox on both Mac and Windows. Students should use the latest version of the browser when possible.
Fast "basic broadband" internet access is required. For best results, students need download speeds of 1200kbps.
To find out the speeds you are experiencing on your computer and connection, go to a website such as
www.speedtest.net and hit the Begin Test button.
If you have slower internet speeds at home (or other location where you will carry out your assignments), you can still participate by uploading your assignments using a slow speed (for example, at home), but attending class lectures and critique time at an internet cafe or other such location with broadband speeds and a webcam. AnimSchool class lectures require no specific software (just an internet browser like Firefox), and can be accessed via Windows or Mac computers. So you can do your assignments and watch lectures using a slower connection, but attend class using a fast connection elsewhere.
You need to use a microphone and webcam to talk to the instructors and students. Online classes work best with headphones as well.
A webcam is also used to take a picture of drawn assignments, and record live planning for animated scenes.
New students must pay before the term begins, in order to enroll. Enrolled students must keep their payments current to maintain status at the school and retain access to the AnimSchool student website and assets. To register in a particular class for the following term, existing students must pay the tuition for that term.
Failure to make payments on time may result in the website being locked until the student has corrected the issue. Students may request a one-time per month, three-day grace period meant to allow students to participate in class with time to resume payment when behind on tuition. This option is only available within three days of the tuition due date.
If a card is denied during the processing attempt the school will make reasonable attempts to re-process the transaction. Failure to process the payment will lock the account, and the student account will be set to pay upon the next login. Students have seven days to provide alternative payment. Following the seven days, monthly payment students must contact the Student Administrator and arrange payment to avoid being placed on Academic Probation.
For payment-related questions, including any additional payment options not outlined in this document please email:
payments@animschool.eduExisting students must pay for the upcoming term by the posted "Last Day to Register For Classes" on the Academic Calendar, approximately one week before a term begins. Students should then call or email the Student Administrator to bring their account current and resume student status. Existing students who fail to pay for the current term must contact the Student Administrator and arrange payment to avoid being placed on Academic Probation.
Students on the monthly payment option must maintain a valid credit or debit card on the account. Monthly payments withdrawn automatically on the twenty-fifth of the month, unless prior arrangements have been made with the payments department.. If a card is denied during the attempt at processing, the student will be notified by email and they will have seven days to provide a replacement card, or be assessed a $35 late fee. Following the seven days, monthly payment students must contact the Student Administrator and arrange payment to avoid being placed on Academic Probation.
Students on the Easy-Pay program must maintain a valid credit or debit card on the account. Monthly payments withdrawn automatically on the twenty-fifth of the month, unless prior arrangements have been made with the payments department.. If a card is denied during the attempt at processing, whether during a term or during a scheduled Easy-Pay break , the student will be notified by email and they will have seven days to provide a replacement card. Following the seven days, monthly payment students must contact the Student Administrator and arrange payment to avoid being placed on Academic Probation.
An applicant or student may apply for advanced placement, or course bypass if they already have the prerequisite skills for later courses. The
AnimSchool Review Board reviews past coursework, portfolios, or demo reel materials to determine if an applicant is eligible for advanced placement.
Our Review Board will review the work and determine which course would best prepare the applicant for eventual work in the industry. In the event that an
applicant or student disagrees with the Review Board’s determination, they may submit additional work to help the Review Board properly assess their skills.
Resubmitting work does not necessarily mean that an applicant will be approved for a bypass.
AnimSchool does not accept Transfer Credit from other schools or training programs.
AnimSchool stands against any kind of discrimination based on characteristics such as race, sex, gender, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status when considering students for admission, hiring staff, or other activities.
We seek diversity when hiring instructors and staff.
We recognize the struggles of marginalized communities and individuals and strive to make the animation community open to people from diverse backgrounds and experiences.
To start your education at AnimSchool, hit the Apply Now button below, email Admissions, or call (801) 765-7677.