RIT’s School of Film and Animation continues to rise in rankings

Student’s access to state-of-the-art facilities and software, impressive faculty with industry experience, and a wealth of opportunities for hands-on learning before graduation has earned RIT’s School of Film and Animation (SOFA) more recognition as one of the top animation schools in the nation.

Animation Career Review, a leading online resource for aspiring animation and game design professionals, placed RIT 12th in the publication’s Top 50 Animation Schools and Colleges in the U.S. for 2025. This is a leap ahead for the school after placing 16th in the publication’s 2024 rankings.

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Sophie Proe

In an explanation of its rankings, Animation Career Review emphasized RIT students’ access to classrooms and labs outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment and the latest industry software.

Additionally, in separate ranking lists released by Animation Career Review, RIT placed 7th on the Top 25 Animation Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Degree Programs list; 11th on the Top 40 Private Animation Schools and Colleges in the U.S. list; 5th on the Top 25 Animation Schools and Colleges on the East Coast list; and 11th on the Top 50 Animation BFA Degree Programs list.

Shanti Thakur, director of SOFA, said the 2024-2025 academic year has been exciting for the school. In addition to the Animation Career Review rankings, SOFA was recognized as a top film school by The Hollywood Reporter and TheWrap for the first time in the school’s history.

“Over the last four years, SOFA has advanced incredibly. New cutting-edge animation facilities, new faculty hires, award-winning student work, and new study away opportunities both nationally and internationally have translated to tremendous recognition for our school. I look forward to SOFA’s continued success,” said Thakur.

In preparing its 2025 rankings, Animation Career Review considered over 200 U.S. schools that offer programs geared toward animation. The publication considers academic reputation; admission selectivity; employment data; the program’s depth, breadth, and faculty; value as it relates to tuition; graduation rate; and retention rate when assembling the list of schools.

Animation Career Review also cited RIT’s designation as a Center of Excellence by Toon Boon, the university’s history with the Coca-Cola Refreshing Films program, the RIT in LA study away program, and RIT’s participation in Creative Industry Days when granting the rankings. Alumni job placements at major studios such as DreamWorks, Sony, Disney Animation Studios, Electronic Arts (EA), Nickelodeon, and Dolby also influenced the ranking.

Go to the School of Film and Animation website for more details about its program offerings.