Founded as the Chicago Academy of Design in 1866, School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of the oldest accredited independent schools of art and design in the country. It educates artists, designers, and scholars and provides a challenging education in the studio arts and exhibition opportunities for its students. The college offers nationally accredited undergraduate, graduate and post-baccalaureate programs to more than 3,600 students every year from around the globe.

It has broad and dynamic spectrum of study areas, such as Art and Technology Studies, Fashion Design, Animation, Architecture, Historic Preservation, and Interior Architecture, Ceramics, Fiber and Material Studies, Painting and Drawing, Photography, Visual Communication, Writing and Visual and Critical Studies. A comprehensive program in Liberal Arts emphasizes the critical role that humanities, mathematics, and sciences play in artists' development.

SAIC provides an interdisciplinary approach to art and design as well as world-class resources, including the Art Institute of Chicago museum, on-campus galleries, and state-of-the-art facilities. The college has notable alumni and faculty such as Michelle Grabner, David Sedaris, Elizabeth Murray, Richard Hunt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Cynthia Rowley, Nick Cave, Jeff Koons, and LeRoy Neiman.

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is located in downtown Chicago and has an active campus fuelled by various student groups, organizations and leadership opportunities. With more than 60 student groups and organizations and a full schedule of events, SAIC’s Campus Life office offers countless ways to get involved in the SAIC community. From school-wide events such as the Halloween Ball to the Eye and Ear Clinic's film screenings, and from weekly Latin dancing and yoga classes to philosophy discussions and art critiques.