Bermuda College has formed a new partnership with Savannah College of Art and Design that will “open the door of opportunity”.

Students of the arts and science division can now take classes that will count toward admission into several SCAD baccalaureate programmes.

Vice president of academic and student affairs, Mark Van Den Hende, said: “We are extremely pleased to forge this agreement with Savannah College of Art and Design.”

Students who successfully complete the Associate of Arts Degree will qualify to enter SCAD’s Bachelor of Fine Arts degree programme, while Bermuda College students who successfully complete their degree, with a concentration in art, will qualify to enter SCAD’s Bachelor in Visual Communication with concentrations in advertising, graphic design, illustration, photography and sequential art.

Students will have the option of taking classes at the Bermuda College Technical Centre as well as online.

Executive director of e-learning and transfer enrolment, Margaret Kross, and the college’s art instructors, Michael Walsh and Edwin Smith, were given particular credit for having worked diligently to link the two colleges.

Mr Walsh said Savannah, in Georgia, was the “ultimate goal” for Bermuda College because they “actively link students with public and private partnerships”.

Overall, Savannah offers students the opportunity to “build portfolios while working with global industries,” Dr Van Den Hende said.

He added: “Savannah College will open the door of opportunity for transferring Bermuda College students to work in a variety of settings around the globe as they have campuses in the United States, Hong Kong and France, in addition to e-learning.”

Founded in 1978, SCAD is an independent, non-profit, accredited institution with nearly 12,000 students from 50 states and more than 100 countries­ — 23 per cent of whom are international.