The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate the efficacy of digital arts integration programming and its potential effect on college and career readiness for African American females. Digital art involves a synthesis of artistic techniques and applied concepts to computer technology (Hope & Ryan, 2014) . Individuals trained in this medium often assume professional roles as video game designers, computer graphics artists, and animators; yet African American females are primarily

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... represented in these professions and high school digital arts programs (Design Census, 2019; Teixeira, 2017; Villa, 2017) . As a result, this study examines digital arts integration programs from the unique perspective of aspiring African American female artists. The qualitative research approach used in this study was an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) (Flowers, Larkin, & J.A. Smith, 2009) . The study sample included three African American females between the ages of 18-19. All participants were graduates of the same digital arts high school and were recruited based on their academic and artistic achievements and socioeconomic status. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, interviews took place via the online video platform called Zoom. Intersectionality theory informs the design of the interview questions in this study and situated cognition theory analyzes the efficacy of digital arts integration programming. Key findings indicate that the digital arts high school did not prepare participants for competitive 4-year colleges or careers in digital arts.