SAE Institute
Locations: 50 locations worldwide (in the U.S.: Atlanta, New York, Miami, Nashville, San Francisco, Los Angeles
Degrees: Associate's (Atlanta location only); certificate and diploma programs at other U.S. locations
Programs: Audio Technology, Electronic Music Production (additional programs available outside the U.S.)
Tuition Range: $15,000 - $23,000
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Originally called the School of Audio Engineering, SAE Institute began in Australia and has since expanded to 50 locations on six continents. (In the U.S., SAE currently has locations in New York, Atlanta, Miami, Nashville, San Francisco and Los Angeles.) While locations worldwide offer a variety of diplomas, Bachelors and Masters degrees in Film, Audio, Animation, Game Design and other subjects, the U.S. locations primarily offer short-term certificate programs in Electronic Music Production or 9-month diploma programs in Audio Technology. The Atlanta location also offers a one-year associate’s degree in Audio. Online courses are also available.
For U.S. residents, SAE Institute is basically suited for students who desire a trade-school level education in audio, rather than pursuing a college degree. Certificate programs average $2000 each depending on location and specific program, while diploma programs average around $20,000 to complete.
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Student Reviews
Originally called the School of Audio Engineering, SAE Institute began in Australia and has since expanded to 50 locations on six continents. (In the U.S., SAE currently has locations in New York, Atlanta, Miami, Nashville, San Francisco and Los Angeles.) While locations worldwide offer a variety of diplomas, Bachelors and Masters degrees in Film, Audio, [...]
Review by Alex K.
June 13, 2012 4.3I graduated from SAE Atlanta in October of 2011. SAE helped me tremendously in everything I’m doing right now, all the techniques I’ve learned. Using Ableton and Pro Tools and Logic, just everything. They take you step by step on everything in this school. Just blew my mind. Nine months. I went into this school thinking that I needed prior knowledge of nothing. But they molded me and I knew nothing about any of this stuff before I went. It changed my life completely and it was so worth it in every sense of the word. It was amazing. I would do it over again 100,000 times. No regrets at all, at all. I think it’s really necessary to have these schools. Because without it, I don’t know where I’d be. I’d be in a cubicle and I definitely don’t want to be working in a cubicle. Music is my life. This is what I feel like I was meant to do. This is what makes me happy day to day.
Review by Jack M.
January 31, 2012 5I graduated from SAE of Nashville in 2002 with a audio engineering degree. I do not have school debt. Since I graduated, I owned a production company working with many artists. Artist developmental programs and production was the main part. I was also involved in booking shows and concerts from regional tours to local gigs. I would recommend anyone to go to SAE!
Found work after graduation? Yes
Review by Reggie B.
November 23, 2011 1No help with job assistance whatsoever. Very poor job placement
Review by Arno H.
May 19, 2011 3I recently received another email asking me how I feel about my education at SAE a year later. I am a little too busy to respond to individual emails, so I’m just going to put it here.
I must say I still stick to my opinion about SAE (read below this review). I still believe it is the best bang for your buck and what I learned there helped me tremendously in my career so far. I got hired to work at CMJ in New York City and SXSW in Austin, TX. I am currently starting my own mobile recording business and the knowledge I acquired at SAE made a big difference in not only getting various jobs, but also in obtaining an internship and building my arsenal of audio tools. My calendar is getting busier with each month and although that is 90% because of my own energy and drive (relentlessly looking for jobs and doing constant networking) I don’t think I would be where I am today without the knowledge I got from SAE’s Audio Technology Program.
The fact that I got gear to let me work on projects is extremely valuable to me. As of now all the samples on my website (http://www.hachaduryan…) are done with the computer, interface and software that I got from SAE. I also mixed a full length blues album (as an extracurricular activity) on my MacBook and currently that CD is being sold on Amazon and iTunes.
No, this is not SAE propaganda. There are other schools and programs in the Bay Area, but I still believe that if you simply attend the classes you will get NOTHING out of it (but some gear if you go to SAE). One must focus and be driven in order to learn. They are there to teach you, but only you can be passionate enough to want to learn.
In other words – getting your money’s worth of knowledge is ONLY up to you. It can be a colosal wate of money and time, or it could be a deciding factor in the success of your career. I chose SAE and I am pretty happy about that.
Review by Howie D.
February 22, 2011 3.5SAE is a great school where anyone can learn how to start up in the field of audio engineering. I recently graduated from their ATP (ATP stands for their Audio Technology Program) and I am really happy that I took that step. Currently I am about to start my internship at a well established recording studio in the North Bay and I owe this to the massive amounts of knowledge I have acquired during my studies there.
Although they are a great school, let’s face it, Expression in the East Bay is a frickin’ monster – amazing gear, lots of shine and a high “coolness” factor. That being said, I would NOT give Expression more than 4 stars either. Why? Because although they have great equipment and an amazing campus altogether, the value at SAE is WAY better – you pay a fraction of the cost (hence no monstrous student loans to haunt you once you graduate; face it, you can’t possibly repay over $80K by working in this industry), you are done in only 9 months and ready to intern/work (versus 4 years! at Expression) and in the price of the tuition you get your own gear that allows you to work on your own projects in the future (everyone in my class received a Mac Book, M-Box 2 with Pro Tools LE, Logic Pro, Bias Peak, Native Instruments’ Komplete 5, studio headphones and other small stuff with options to upgrade). Yeah, you’ll say, SAE gives you only a diploma, while Expressions awards you with a Bachelor’s Degree. But here is what – nobody in the industry cares if you have a degree or not – all they want is hard workers who know what they are doing and they are doing it well, with a degree or not.
While there I managed to book a massive amount of lab hours – studio time for recording and mixing on great equipment. The training there is very “hands on”, which in my opinion is the best way to learn. I managed to squeeze out a lot of practice from there, which I think is very, very valuable. We started small on some tiny analog mixers and within a few months we were working on analog SSL and Neve boards as well as the impressive Digidesign ICON with its 5.1 Surround Sound setup.
Review by Hacha D.
February 28, 2010 4Great School to learn Audio Engineering! If you are looking to get started in the field of audio this is a great place to look into. Quick programs that get you out fast and capable. And much better value than any other place out there.