Founded in 1946 as the Burnley School for Professional Art, The Art Institute of Seattle has a proud history as a part of the Seattle community and a contributor to the creative industries in the Northwest.

As Seattle grew, so did the Burnley School. The city saw everything from a World's Fair to exploding new technologies that have changed the face of modern living. All the while, the Burnley School turned out a generation of graduates ready to succeed in a rapidly changing world.

In 1982, the Burnley School joined The Art Institutes system and became The Art Institute of Seattle. In the next few years, The Art Institute received accreditation from the Accrediting Commission for Career Schools and Colleges of Technology (1984), moved to its present location on Seattle's waterfront (1985), and grew from about 100 students to a fall 2008 enrollment of nearly 2,300.

The Art Institute of Seattle achieved a major milestone in 1999 when it was granted regional accreditation by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, an institutional accrediting body recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and the U.S. Department of Education. NWCCU can be reached at 8060 165th Avenue NE, Suite 100, Redmond, WA 98052.

Through the Center for Professional Development workshops and continuing education courses, The Art Institute offers continuing education courses and workshops to the general public for personal enrichment and for education certification.

In emphasizing quality programs based on the needs of business, The Art Institute of Seattle will continue to be a leader of creative education.

Mission Statement 

The mission of The Art Institute of Seattle is to provide higher education programs that prepare students for careers in design-, technology-, business-, and hospitality-related fields. Graduates are prepared for entry-level positions and career/professional advancement in their chosen fields through curricula that emphasize technical and communication skills needed in the field, taught by faculty who are, or have been, working professionals, in an environment that encourages free expression, leadership and responsible decision making.

The Art Institute achieves its mission by supporting the following goals:

• To maintain an educational setting that fosters creativity, critical thinking and innovation.
• To uphold a standard on institutional excellence through the recruitment of experienced professionals to join our faculty and staff.
• To provide student-focused services that enhance student development both personally and professionally.
• To ensure an environment of academic freedom and responsibility, collegiality and professionalism with policies driven by faculty, staff and students.
• To provide content and methodology required of traditional academic offerings in the major areas of knowledge and skills that lead to lifelong learning and careers.
• To deliver learning-centered instruction by faculty who exhibit excellence in teaching, and possess appropriate academic credentials and industry-related experience.
• To provide safe, clean, and accessible facilities.
• To maintain equipment and technology to program specific standards.
• To develop and revise curricula through regular reviews by a community that involves employers, advisors, faculty, staff, students and alumni.
• To assist graduates in beginning and furthering their careers.
• To achieve institutional objectives of student retention, completion, employment and salaries.
• To offer varying lengths of academic programs, which lead to the Diploma degree, the Associate of Applied Arts degree, and the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.
• To annually update strategic plans for institutional development and growth.

The Art Institute of Seattle believes in the worth and potential of each student and strives to provide quality programs and services which foster development of that potential and worth.