QS World University Rankings® by Subject Art & Design: NABA is the Best Italian Academy of Fine Arts, in the Top 100 worldwide
Courses
SELECT YOUR LEVEL
CHOOSE YOUR INTERESTED AREA
SELECT YOUR LEVEL
CHOOSE YOUR INTERESTED AREA
CHOOSE YOUR INTERESTED AREA
CHOOSE YOUR INTERESTED AREA
CHOOSE YOUR FUTURE
CHOOSE YOUR INTERESTED AREA
CHOOSE YOUR FUTURE
CHOOSE YOUR INTERESTED AREA
CHOOSE YOUR INTERESTED AREA
CHOOSE YOUR FUTURE
CHOOSE YOUR INTERESTED AREA
CHOOSE YOUR FUTURE
CHOOSE YOUR INTERESTED AREA
CHOOSE YOUR FUTURE
CHOOSE YOUR INTERESTED AREA
CHOOSE YOUR FUTURE
CHOOSE YOUR INTERESTED AREA
CHOOSE YOUR INTERESTED AREA
CHOOSE YOUR INTERESTED AREA
CHOOSE YOUR INTERESTED AREA
CHOOSE YOUR INTERESTED AREA
CHOOSE YOUR INTERESTED AREA
CHOOSE YOUR FUTURE
CHOOSE YOUR INTERESTED AREA
CHOOSE YOUR INTERESTED AREA
CHOOSE YOUR INTERESTED AREA
CHOOSE YOUR FUTURE
CHOOSE YOUR INTERESTED AREA
CHOOSE YOUR FUTURE
CHOOSE YOUR INTERESTED AREA
CHOOSE YOUR FUTURE
CHOOSE YOUR INTERESTED AREA
CHOOSE YOUR FUTURE
CHOOSE YOUR INTERESTED AREA
CHOOSE YOUR FUTURE

How to choose a suitable school?

You want to study design and creative arts. The next step is to choose the Academy that meets your needs. 

Such a choice is crucial since your future and professional career in the creative industry will also depend on it. 

Here you will find six questions that can help you decide whether NABA suits you. 

 

Why is NABA unique in the Art and Design academies panorama?

Students are at the core of the NABA didactic offer. The Academy guides them through an interdisciplinary experience focusing on the “learning by doing” method. 

Such an approach lies on three pillars: a strong attitude toward innovation and research; a network of connections with the artistic and professional world; and an excellent faculty mixing teaching and professional activities in a lively and ongoing dialogue. 

For over 40 years, NABA has improved its didactic proposal by combining different experiences. Students are involved in individual and group activities, lectures and tutoring. 

They can attend workshops with Italian and international companies. Here, they interpret real briefs and develop projects based on conceptual research. Thanks to a wide range of collaborations, they have the chance to meet the world of work and forge personal critical thinking. Thus, students gain a problem-solving attitude and artistic and practical skills. 

 

Where are the NABA campuses located?

NABA offers a choice between the Milan and the Rome campus. The former is in the beating heart of fashion, contemporary art and design. The second is surrounded by the artistic and architectural heritage of the Eternal City - the vital point for haute couture and the Italian Film Industry. These two contexts offer students endless events and exhibition opportunities. 

In Milan, NABA is on the Navigli district - a historic and lively urban area. The campus covers over 22,000 square metres and has an excellent IT infrastructure. It includes technologically advanced rooms for digital graphics, video editing, 2D and 3D modelling, and virtual production. Furthermore, there are tailoring, chalcographic engraving, model-making, painting, and light design workshops. The library and the cafeteria are the symbols of the study-life balance.   

In Rome, NABA is one of the major players in the regenerated Ostiense area. The campus is only 200 metres away from the Garbatella underground station and is placed in an early 20th Century building complex. It covers approximately 3,700 square metres and hosts specialised fashion, visual arts and media design laboratories. Furthermore, there are student and lounge areas, a library and administrative offices. 

What is NABA's reputation?

NABA has received some of the most authoritative international awards: it has been selected as the Best Italian Academy of Fine Arts in the Top 100 worldwide in Art & Design field in the QS World University Rankings® by Subject.

Over time, NABA was selected by Frame to be included in the Masterclass Frame Guide to the 30 World’s Leading Graduate Design, Architecture and Fashion Schools, and by Domus Magazine as one of Europe’s Top 100 schools of Architecture and Design. The Academy is also a member of ADI (Association for Industrial Design) E.L.I.A. (European League of Institutes of the Arts), and Piattaforma Sistema Formativo Moda. It is a partner of New European Bauhaus. These are just a few examples of the Academy's standing in the global panorama of higher education institutions. 

 

What do you do to support your students after graduation?

All schools can provide glowing data on the placement of their students in the world of work. However, just a few of them can specify what kind of career their alumni pursue. 

NABA has over 40 years of collaborations with the best Italian and international companies. Partnerships are a stepping stone for students careers. 

Over time, the employment rate one year after graduation is very high; sometimes, it is higher than the 92% in fields consistent with students' paths of study. Moreover, salary is generally higher than the average one reported in Almalaurea's annual employment surveys. 

Some former NABA students work with leading companies worldwide, such as Armani, Burberry, Jil Sander, Marni, Woolrich, The Swatch Group, Trussardi, Driade. 

The Career Service Office supports students in writing resumes and improving portfolios. Moreover, it provides the best internship and job offers, helping students to enter the world of work. Armando Testa, McCann Health, BMW, Diesel, Giugiaro Architettura, Gucci, Luceplan, Pininfarina, Pirelli, Etro, Luxottica, Siemens and more than 2,000 companies have signed internship agreements. 

Are NABA degrees recognised at a Ministerial level?

Someone forgets to ask this question when evaluating different didactic offers. However, it is very important to know it. Academies recognised by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) are more likely to issue professionally valid qualifications. 

Companies want collaborators and employees to contribute to the team's growth. Before hiring, they check that applicants have received quality training. 

 That is why a recognised qualification can make a difference. It helps to select candidates by also looking at their education. 

Recognition guarantees graduates to continue their specialised studies or doctorate at another university. 

NABA is the largest private Academy in Italy, and the first one to have been recognised by the MUR, back in 1981. As a recognised Academy, NABA offers in its two campus in Milan and Rome academic degrees equivalent to first and second level university ones in the fields of design, fashion design, graphics and communication, multimedia arts, new technologies, set design, visual arts, legally valid at an international level. 

Is the faculty made up of professionals?

All NABA faculty members have a strong professional background in their teaching subject. 

Most of them work or have worked at leading design and architecture studios, fashion houses, advertising and marketing agencies, and art and cultural institutions. Others are renowned art curators, critics, authors of publications or regular contributors to influential design and art magazines. All lecturers bring an up-to-date and practical perspective to their classes or workshops. Thanks to this approach, they motivate students to experiment, learn, and grow.