Degrees

Web design is an attractive career option because of its fusion of technology and art. Many interested parties will opt to enter a degree program for web design, but is this really necessary? For many fields college is a necessity or at least a great help. However, for a self-motivated individual, a web design degree may not be needed to find success.

It’s All In The Portfolio

Unlike many other jobs, you can prove your worth as a web designer purely by a demonstration of your skills. Having a bachelor’s or associate’s does not prove that you have more knowledge than the next guy. While college can help you to develop a diverse portfolio, you can also build it by taking small or free jobs.

You Will Take Classes You Don’t Need

If you are positive that you want to pursue web design, that does not change the fact that college requires hours upon hours of unrelated or peripherally related classwork. More than half of your coursework can be general education classes and electives. Depending on where you go to school, a web design degree may be considered an art degree. This means taken a number of courses in art history, painting, sculpture and more. While some people come at web design from the art side, others may not at all, finding themselves deep in subjects they have no experience with. There are useful options like business classes for aspiring freelancers and coding classes to round out your knowledge, but you may be too busy with your other coursework to even consider these choices.

You Can Learn Web Design and More For Free

The Internet is a massive pool of knowledge. The fact that web design is a field filled with web-savvy individuals means you will find more resources available to you than you can imagine. Whether it is Photoshop, design principles or HTML, you can teach yourself anything with the Internet. If you have the motivation, you can start learning web design now. In addition, the fact is that no one degree plan will fit everyone’s needs perfectly. By teaching yourself, you can systemically attack every weakness that you have in your knowledge.

The Unique Benefits of College

All of that being said, that does not mean you should entirely rule out going to college. A good college can provide things you can’t get anywhere else. Your professors are real professionals in the field who can give you helpful advice and later on help you find a job. While in truth you will progress much faster solely focusing on web design, there is a lot to be said for being a well-rounded individual. In the process of taking other classes you will learn how to see things differently, and you will pick up skills that you would never expect to have. In addition, for some people the structured learning environment of college can really boost them forward.