A very /specific/ question on schooling, for once...

I think for what you are asking almost any university offers a General Fine Arts degree. Check the catalogs and maybe visit your local ones and audit a few classes, interview a few of the staff. I know I got plenty of exposure to freehand drawing, figure drawing and commercial composition courses at my local State College. Most of the art departments are willing to swing with the student's interest and tailor their assignments to the field they eventually want to enter.

Maybe won't land you an upscale animation job probably, but will give you a good foundation.

It's very difficult to find a degree program that is a combination of 2D and 3D to any significant degree. The programs tend to fall under different departments - 2D in illustration and 3D in computer graphics and "new media" (whatever that means). You'll generally end up with what you don't want - a smattering of 2D thrown into a 3D curriculum, and vice versa.

Regarding portfolio, my first response would be don't fear the review. Any good artist is their toughest critic and the worst judge of their own work. Besides, what's the harm in submitting a portfolio? If you're wrong about the quality of your work, you'll get in, and if you're right, you'll get some guidance about what to work on. A win-win, I'd say.

There are some art schools that don't have a portfolio requirement for admission, but they tend to be for-profit schools, and very expensive. The Art Institute campuses, for example, don't have a portfolio requirement for the most part. The down side to that is that anyone can get in, and you could easily find yourself in a class where you're the most experienced student at a time you want to be challenged. That's not to say there isn't good work coming out of those schools, but they can be less challenging than some of the ones that require a portfolio for admission.

Hope that helps.

Check out the Academy of Art University in San Francisco Ecec. I graduated from there almost (yikes) seven years ago. There were developing quite a bit of traditional animation classes there when I graduated and they have a really good Illustration department. A good example of this is one of my class mates, Jun, who's character designs are all through out the Art of Starwars Ep. 3 book.
Their 3D department are also quite good. Several of the Mentors and founders of AnimationMentor.com taught 3D animation there. There is no portfolio review, so if your check clears, you're in. It's also a beautiful city to live in.

Aloha,
the Ape

Check out the Academy of Art University in San Francisco Ecec... There is no portfolio review, so if your check clears, you're in.

There is definitely a portfolio review for the graduate programs at AAU. I don't know about the undergrad program.

AAU also has a lot of online classes now - it's possible in some disciplines to complete your entire degree without once setting foot on campus.

Right now I am doing some teaching at SCAD. Their program is electic with a combination of 2D, 3D and stop motion. We have an electic bunch of instructors- folks in all disciplines...

They do not require a portfolio to enter- but it does come into play for scholarships. What most successful folks do is attach themselves to the Professor(s) in the areas of their interests. We have folks in the studio and independent and experimental realms, etc.

Thanks