Nossi College of Art and Design

About Nossi College of Art and Design

Nossi traces its origins to 1973, when artist and educator Nossi Vatandoost began teaching fine-art classes to two students. The school expanded from painting, airbrush, and photography instruction into an accredited career college focused on applied creative education. Its current name is Nossi College of Art and Design, correcting the shortened name in the database record. The institution occupies a specialized campus at 590 Creative Way in the Madison area of north Nashville. Official materials describe facilities designed for creative production, including design and editing labs, photography studios, illustration spaces, video-production facilities, and culinary training areas. This is a narrowly focused college rather than a comprehensive university: its active degree portfolio centers on design, illustration, photography, video and content creation, and culinary arts. Nossi is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges, an institutional accreditor recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. It is also authorized to operate as a postsecondary institution by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission and is authorized under federal law to enroll nonimmigrant students. The institution’s Fall 2026 enrollment messaging and current admissions materials confirm that it continues to accept students. Applicants should assess the school primarily on the fit between its specialized curriculum, production facilities, career-oriented teaching model, and their intended creative field.

Nossi uses an open-enrollment structure with multiple entry periods, but applicants must still complete its academic and creative review requirements. The college is currently enrolling for Fall 2026. Its admissions page contains an apparent typographical error in the published Fall 2026 deadline, so candidates should confirm the exact date directly with Admissions rather than relying on that webpage entry. The latest detailed requirements available in the 2025–2026 catalog call for a regular high-school diploma with at least a 2.0 GPA or an accepted GED or HiSET. Official proof must be received before the first day of attendance for full acceptance. Applicants below the stated GPA threshold may submit an appeal, but approval is not guaranteed. The process also includes an application, a statement of purpose, a campus or virtual tour, a personal interview with an admissions representative, and an online-readiness assessment. Creative-work requirements vary by program. Illustration Technologies applicants must present original portfolio work. Applicants to Graphic Design, Photography, and video-related bachelor’s programs provide work for review, with the catalog allowing a broader range of creative examples for these fields. The online application permits portfolio uploads but labels them optional at that initial stage, indicating that review may occur later in the process. Culinary applicants should consult Admissions for their program-specific review. Transfer and international candidates should request an individualized checklist covering transcript evaluation, English-language evidence, immigration documents, and credit applicability.

Nossi’s current academic portfolio consists of four bachelor’s programs and one associate program. The bachelor’s options are Graphic and Interactive Design, Illustration Technologies, Photography, and Video and Content Creation. Culinary Arts is offered as an Associate of Occupational Studies. Because the profile schema recognizes only bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels, the verified degree-level field records bachelor’s only; it does not recategorize the associate award. The curriculum is built around production skills, professional presentation, and portfolio development. Graphic and Interactive Design spans print, digital, web, motion, application, and advertising work. Illustration Technologies combines visual storytelling with digital tools, marketing, and business knowledge. Photography addresses areas such as commercial, portrait, event, and content photography, while Video and Content Creation covers production from concept through editing for commercial, music, and social-media contexts. Culinary Arts combines kitchen training with menu development and restaurant-management topics. Experiential learning is a prominent feature. The college says every degree student completes a professional internship with faculty support. Its optional Professional Accelerated Career Experience program connects students with external clients and live projects, allowing participants to develop portfolio work and workplace communication skills before graduation. The 2025–2026 catalog states that graduation requires completion of all courses, a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0, an acceptable publicly reviewed portfolio, satisfaction of financial obligations, and designated exit meetings. Students considering later graduate study should independently check how Nossi’s specialized Bachelor of Graphic Arts awards align with prerequisites at their intended institutions.

Key Highlights

• Founded as a fine-art school in 1973
• Institutionally accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges
• Authorized to operate by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission
• Currently enrolling students for Fall 2026

Student Life & Environment

Student life at Nossi is organized around a small, specialized creative community rather than a large residential-university system. The college promotes student groups, mentoring, volunteering, portfolio-building activities, professional events, and collaborations that connect different creative disciplines. Its student-life materials identify interest-based and identity-based groups, while the PACE program gives eligible students another route into projects with community organizations and businesses. Apartment-style student housing is available directly across Creative Way from the campus through Music City Housing Services. The current housing page describes furnished shared apartments with individual leases and bundled electricity, water, sewer, and Wi-Fi. Residents have private or shared-community arrangements depending on the available configuration, and housing acceptance is subject to a background check. The published application lists nonrefundable application and reservation fees, so students should request the current lease, monthly rate, occupancy format, and cancellation terms before committing. The campus experience is closely tied to academic production. Studios, labs, exhibition activity, portfolio shows, guest professionals, internships, and client work can serve both curricular and social functions. Career Services also supports students with résumés, portfolios, mock interviews, internship placement, job-search strategy, networking, and professional etiquette. Applicants seeking varsity athletics, a large selection of general-interest clubs, or a traditional dormitory campus should verify whether Nossi’s more compact environment matches their expectations.

Location & Surroundings

Nossi’s campus is at 590 Creative Way in the Madison area of north Nashville. Although the database identifies the city as Madison, the college publishes a Nashville postal address; Madison functions as the surrounding community within metropolitan Nashville-Davidson County. The setting provides access to Nashville without placing the school in the downtown core. For creative students, the location can support learning beyond campus through the region’s music, live-event, hospitality, media, design, and arts activity. Nossi uses local organizations, events, businesses, and creative professionals in internships, client projects, networking, and portfolio development. This proximity is especially relevant to photography, video, content creation, design, and culinary students whose work benefits from real venues and clients. Student housing across the street can make walking to class practical for participating residents. Students living elsewhere should investigate commuting time, parking, public-transport options, and transportation to internships or evening projects. Applicants should also compare Nashville-area rent and transportation costs with the housing option’s current contract terms rather than assuming that the database’s missing room-and-board figure represents no living expense.

Costs & Career Outcomes

For 2026 entrants, Nossi publishes tuition of $6,900 per semester. The stated program tuition is $41,400 across six semesters for the Culinary Arts associate program and $75,900 across eleven semesters for a bachelor’s program. These figures are tuition totals, not complete attendance budgets. The 2025–2026 catalog additionally lists a one-time $150 registration fee, a $250 graduation fee, and estimated books, supplies, computer, and software costs of approximately $700 per semester. Culinary students also have estimated knife-kit and uniform costs. Living expenses and transportation are excluded. Nossi’s fixed-tuition policy states that a student’s tuition rate will not increase while the student remains continuously active in the original degree program. The same policy applies to in-state, out-of-state, and international students. Financial aid for qualifying students may include federal grants and loans, Tennessee aid, veterans’ benefits, and institutional or external scholarships. Students should use the net-price calculator and obtain a personalized aid offer before comparing costs, since published tuition does not show grants, borrowing, or housing. Career preparation includes required internships, portfolio development, client projects through PACE, and individual support with résumés, interviews, networking, job searches, and employer research. Alumni may continue using career services and may take eligible refresher courses through the Together Program. These services do not guarantee employment or a particular salary; applicants should review the latest program-level completion and placement disclosures linked through Nossi’s accreditation page.