Adweek reported portfolio schools—including Miami Ad School—are developing curricula incorporating AI coursework.
Last week, Adweek reported Adland was dumping younger workers, opining the employment situation was fueled by the rise of AI. So, it’s odd to train advertising wannabes on the technology that diminishes their employment opportunities.
Can’t help but wonder how long before portfolio school instructors are replaced by AI.
Additionally, as previously noted, Miami Ad School has been pruning its portfolio, creating another cold reality impacting students.
It all reflects the school of hard knocks presented by Adland.
Ad Schools Race to Equip Grads for the AI Age
As portfolio schools add AI training, is it enough to keep their model relevant?
By Brittaney Kiefer & Audrey Kemp
For decades, ad school graduates have entered agencies armed with classic creative skills like copywriting, art direction, and design. The next wave will bring something new to the table: fluency in artificial intelligence.
When a new term begins this fall, ad schools including Miami Ad School, Brandcenter at Virginia Commonwealth University, and London’s School of Communication Arts (SCA) are rolling out curricula that incorporate AI education.
They’re doing so to prepare students for a workforce being reshaped by AI. The tech is already affecting the general job market for entry-level workers, The Wall Street Journal reported. While the national unemployment rate is about 4%, for new college graduates it was 6.6% over the past 12 months ending in May.
The ad industry specifically appears to be shedding younger workers as AI use becomes routine at agencies, as ADWEEK reported last week.
Even before AI’s rise, the traditional ad school model was under pressure from economic factors and digital disruption. Since 2023, Miami Ad School has closed campuses in San Francisco, Toronto, and most recently Atlanta. The Chicago Portfolio School, Atlanta’s Creative Circus, and the U.K.’s Watford Course have also shut down in recent years.
Many ad schools are now racing to keep up with the pace of change and convince both prospective students and industry employers that their education is fit for the future.
As Vann Graves, executive director of Brandcenter, put it: “The industry is moving at a pace so much faster than it has ever moved. Education needs to move even faster than that.”
Cracks in the Ad School Model
Modern portfolio schools emerged in the 1990s, when agencies scaled back on-the-job training. Programs like Miami Ad School, founded in 1993, and Creative Circus, established in 1995, offered intensive instruction in advertising fundamentals and portfolio building to help graduates stand out in hiring rounds.
But the model has drawbacks. Cost is a major barrier: Miami Ad School’s two year portfolio program costs $38,000, while SCA’s three-semester course is about $24,640.
Ad schools can also focus too narrowly on portfolio development meant to catch the eye of advertising creatives at the expense of broader business training, said Alex Grieve, global chief creative officer of BBH.
“I didn’t go to ad school, and I’ve always felt it’s given me an advantage, because I did think differently [when I entered the workforce],” Grieve said. “At ad schools, there’s this kind of obsession with building a portfolio of work that will get you noticed, and not enough on genuine problem solving for clients.”
Linda Carte, a former Miami Ad School instructor and longtime agency creative director, agreed the business side of advertising is sometimes overlooked in ad school training.
“In an ad school or for a student, it might seem unsexy,” she said. “But the business side of it is almost 50%: knowing your client’s business, knowing their concerns, knowing their landscape.”
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, which temporarily halted in-person education, cracks in the ad school model have begun to appear.
“The pandemic was really hard for [Miami Ad School Toronto] because they had a really great, vibrant culture at their physical location,” said Steve Miller, a former instructor. “[The school] lost some of that vibe… that was just the start.”
AI Education
The recent acceleration of AI has made it even more imperative for ad schools to evolve.
Starting with the current cohort scheduled to graduate in September, Miami Ad School introduced a 10-week boot camp called “AI for Creatives.” The course teaches students how to create with AI tools, culminating with a final project of an AI-powered campaign.
Miami Ad School launched the program after hearing from agencies that want to “bring on more juniors if they know how to use AI tools,” said Rebecca Rovirosa, its chief creative officer and academic director.
Meanwhile, just as some agencies have appointed chief AI officers, Brandcenter recently hired its first director of technical training, Micah Berry from Arts & Letters. Berry will help students and faculty keep abreast of developments in AI and emerging tech, Graves said.
“Young ad folks can’t just be an art director or copywriter now. They have to be polymaths,” he added.
SCA’s changes are more extensive. Starting with the 2025-2026 cohort, the school will conduct a series of 10 two-hour workshops teaching students how to creatively think and problem solve using AI.
The goal is for students to leave with “AI as your personal creative partner,” said Marc Lewis, head of SCA. That’s a change from the previous system of students teaming up with peers, which will now be optional. With AI training, the cohort will also be able to create portfolios and pitch decks much faster, he added.
“They’re going to need to be able to operate like a one-person agency. They now need to think as a creative director, working with AI as your junior and giving it feedback and direction,” Lewis said. “AI should be like an exoskeleton, helping people think further and faster.”
The Future
Many educators agree that ad schools need to quickly adapt. “A school that gets it right is one that knows they need to be nimble,” Carte said.
For Miller, that means having leadership committed to constant curriculum updates, especially as new tools emerge. “Schools need a leader who’s staying on top of the curriculum and making sure that it’s as current as possible,” he said. “With AI, art directors need to have a glimpse into Midjourney… writers [need to] learn how to use ChatGPT.”
One alternative may be agencies taking the reins of education again, giving talent real-world experience. For instance, BBH runs an eight-month program called the Barn, led by the agency’s former executive creative director Nick Gill. The Barn pays participants about $39,000 per year, and many grads get jobs at BBH or other agencies, Grieve said.
But despite the pressures on traditional talent training models, the idea of AI completely replacing entry-level talent is unrealistic, Graves said.
“You still need juniors to train up and implement new ideas,” he said. “There’s going to be a great awakening on what junior roles look like and the expectations of students coming into the field.”
While AI is changing the industry, “it doesn’t remove you,” said Vasti Marcelo, managing director of Miami Ad School.
“This could be a very scary time for students, but please understand that AI is just a tool to help your creativity work faster,” Marcelo said.
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