Many Universities in Michigan have a lot of emphasis on engineering for obvious reasons; our auto industry is there, so especially Mechanical Engineering is a focus. Michigan State University is one of the few schools in the United States that has a bachelors degree in Packaging Engineering, I don’t know if there is some sort of PhD level opportunity, but I wonder if that would interest you since it is very specialized and very visual in way, ties into marketing also. Designing a new bottle for a product, what materials, how will the logo and artwork, fit on the package, etc. Michigan State is a wonderful Univerity (I went there) very strong campus life and nice town, but it is a very cold winter there. Not sure if you are planning on living where you choose, or doing most of your work from a distance. But, lets get back to other specifics you have asked about. Since California is our center for the movie industry, I would think animation education would be most likely found there; or, possibly Florida where Walt Disney World is located. I wish I had a more concrete answer, maybe others who answer will, but hopefully I was a little helpful.