We require every student to sign an enrollment agreement which stipulates the suggested length of each course. We ask that students commit to the course period they agreed to when they enrolled. We do have flexibility that requires a separate written request from students if special circumstances arise that necessitates a course extension. We will evaluate each circumstance on a case-by-case basis. Our goal is to help students graduate as soon as possible so that they can reach their career goals in the shortest timeframe possible while remaining flexible enough to accommodate special circumstances. 

You should expect to produce a visually-polished and completely customized portfolio website with 4 portfolio projects, including 1 real client project, that have been reviewed, critiqued and iterated during your assigned coaching sessions.

Unlike many other programs, we emphasized on individualized coaching for portfolios. We hold students to the highest standards in terms of their work, especially the visual quality, the case study presentation and the storytelling of their personal brand.

Expect to have a stunning portfolio that wows anyone who comes across it, but you have to work hard under our guidance to achieve that.

We require that students either 1) already completed a design education program at another institution or by self-study, or 2) complete our School of Design certificate program first before enrolling in Portfolio School. You cannot produce the level of portfolio that we require for this program if you are starting from 0. Luckily, we have the exact design education program to help you meet the requirements of this program.

After a student applied to Portfolio School, we require them to complete a short design assessment to make sure they are fully-skilled in design foundation. If you did not pass the assessment, we will suggest you take our School of Design program, which is designed for students with 0 foundation or students whose design skills need improvements. 

If you already have at least 3 finished portfolio projects, we recommend the Portfolio Express track where you spend 6+ weeks learning no code website building tools, working on your personal brand, designing your portfolio website, building it yourself and receiving rigorous feedback for iterations.

If you already have a solid design foundation but do not yet have any portfolio projects, or if you are unhappy about your current portfolio projects and want to work on new ones, we recommend the Portfolio Kickstart track, where you have an additional 6-7 weeks to work on new projects under our guidance. You will also receive the bonus opportunity to be paired up with a startup founder for an optional month-long startup project if you choose to.

School of Design is our main design certificate program where we take students from 0 to 100 on learning how to be a great digital-first designer. We created a well-rounded curriculum that builds a solid foundation for students who do not yet have experience in design. The certificate program includes 9 courses with in-depth focus on topics that are most relevant to becoming a successful designer. We recommend students who have no design background to enroll in the full program and take all 9 courses, but if you already have some experience in design, you may choose to skip over some courses. We will help you determine your custom course package once you apply to enroll.

Each course in the School of Design program can be taken individually for students who would rather build their skillsets one topic at a time, but remember that you will pay more per course if you take courses individually rather than enrolling in the certificate program.

If you decide to enroll in our certificate program and receive a reduced workload recommendation from us, you will also receive a reduced tuition rate accordingly.

Portfolio School is for students who have either 1) completed School of Design or 2) completed another education program from another school or through self-study and now wish to create a uniquely outstanding portfolio to be competitive in their career search.

For most students who completed another program from another school, you probably feel unfulfilled or unsatisfied with the outcome of your portfolio, if you are looking at this page. If that is how you feel, then yes, you will benefit from this program. In fact, a large number of our students are in the same shoes as you! We specialize in "filling in the gaps" and helping students work on parts of their portfolio that they are not confident about.

We do not abandon our students after they graduate! We are always open to hearing your career journey after you completed the program. You can always purchase additional coaching sessions a la carte if you need more support after the program. We would also invite those students who want to share their stories with prospective students back for events, workshops and even as our podcast guests! So don't be a stranger.

For one-time payment, the drop out policy is as follows: 90% refund of your entire tuition if you drop out within 1 week; 50% refund of your entire tuition if you drop out after 1 week; 25% refund f your entire tuition if you drop out after 2 weeks and no refund of your entire tuition after 3 weeks of enrollment. Exceptions with customized refund will only be granted with proof of extreme financial hardship, which requires a separate application and review process.

For deferred tuition agreement, the dropout policy is as follows: 90% refund of your down payment if you drop out within 1 week; 50% refund of your down payment if you drop out after 1 week; 25% of your down payment refund if you drop out after 2 weeks and no refund of your down payment after 3 weeks of enrollment. Exceptions with customized refund will only be granted with proof of extreme financial hardship, which requires a separate application and review process.

For monthly payment plans, the drop out policy is as follows: Based on the total monthly payment you already submitted, you will receive a 90% refund if you drop out within 1 week; 50% refund if you drop out after 1 week; 25% refund if you drop out after 2 weeks and no refund after 3 weeks of enrollment. Exceptions with customized refund will only be granted with proof of extreme financial hardship, which requires a separate application and review process.

To reference our complete financing and refund/dropout policies, please refer to the Afford page for all details.