Sessions CollegeReviews of sessions.edu

I took six courses to obtain a Professional Certificate in Web Design. Of the six, five were amazing and I would give five stars: Photoshop Basics, Design Foundations, HTML/CSS Essentials, and two courses on Dreamweaver / Bootstrap. Each class included so much information, many practice examples, and challenging assignments. I learned far more than I was expecting (I had no idea how many amazing features these applications had) and I had a lot of fun doing the exercises and assignments. However, the best part was the detailed and extremely helpful feedback I received on my assignments. Even on assignments on which I received high marks, the instructors offered suggestions and additional links to related materials. The sixth class was Javascript. Coming from a programming background, I had high expectations for this course. I will say the online materials were good, the writing was informative and entertaining, and there were interesting examples and assignments. The issue I had with the Javascript class was with the feedback. It took an incredibly long time for my assignments to be graded, and there was literally no feedback on most of the assignments. I would have achieved much the same results from a book or online tutorial video.

I am writing this review to share an objective assessment of my experience in the asynchronous BFA in Illustration program at Sessions College of Professional Design. While the flexibility of an asynchronous program is appealing, the execution of this degree falls drastically short of professional and higher education standards across several critical areas. First, the program is fundamentally unequipped for individuals who already possess a baseline foundation in art or are looking to advance an existing career. The foundational courses are largely rehashed versions of introductory high school art classes, focusing on rudimentary drawing mechanics rather than higher-level concepts. Experienced artists seeking advanced skill refinement, industry-level portfolio development, or professional growth will find the coursework reductive and unchallenging. Furthermore, a substantial portion of the course material is severely out of date, with modules left untouched for five or more years. Key instructional resources, external reading links, and tutorial references are frequently broken or point to missing pages. In a rapidly evolving digital art landscape, relying on obsolete tools and non-functional materials is unacceptable for a degree-granting institution. The quality of instruction is equally concerning. Rather than receiving tailored critique from industry professionals, assignment feedback consistently feels automated, repetitive, and formulaic. In a professional illustration program, students rely on actionable visual and technical guidance regarding composition, value hierarchy, and draftsmanship. Receiving surface level text templates instead of genuine human mentorship severely undermines the value of tuition. Finally, feedback within the core courses exhibits a distinct bias toward traditional Eurocentric aesthetics. Non-Western or contemporary stylizations are routinely penalized not for technical flaws, but simply for departing from a narrow, traditional aesthetic standard. Compounding this issue, global illustration assignments actively discourage students from showcasing their own cultural heritage, forcing them to research external cultures only to hyper-scrutinize minor inaccuracies in their execution. For the cost of tuition, students deserve a modernized curriculum, functional learning materials, inclusive stylistic guidance, and meaningful mentorship. Sessions College fails to deliver on these basic standards. Experienced artists and prospective students seeking a contemporary, rigorous illustration education should look elsewhere.

My experience was great with Sessions because the professors taught me a lot about design and they were very helpful and understanding.

Within all of us is a natural creative instinct and story telling ability. Finding a way to release those spirits into the popular world can be a challenge for some people to make happen on their own. Sessions will give you the tools to find that hidden treasure within, tap it to meet the outside world and helps release a creataive stream of consciousness that artists can share with everyone.

I found the courses to be very helpful, and the professors very knowledgeable. I like a lot of the structure of the assignments as well.

I had a good experience,

Sessions Collage has helped me improved my skills and gave me the confidence to be creative. The course layout was easy to understand and complete. The instructor's were very helpful and gave feedback on my work that helped me improve further. My experience with Sessions Collage was amazing and I was glad to have joined. I never had experience with an online college before, after enrolling with Sessions Collage I felt like it was the perfect fit.

Sessions provided a great foundation for my graphic design career, and the material presented was useful and relevant. I'm thankful for the opportunity to obtain my degree online, so that I could complete the work on my schedule.