Ward enrolled in the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Right away, he started specializing. He drew girls. Ward took little advantage of attending one of the finest commercial art schools in the country. With the advent of war and the knowledge that he'd be going into the service when he turned nineteen, he neglected his studies and concentrated on girls and fraternity life. Ward's particular talent for drawing women stood him in good stead in this period when romance comics became very popular. Ward was soon so busy doing the covers and lead stories for Quality's romance comics that he didn't have time for his own creation.