Schreckengost graduated from the Cleveland School of the Arts (now the Cleveland Institute of Art) in 1929, at which time he earned a partial scholarship to study at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna.

Schreckengost taught industrial design at the Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA) for more than 50 years and was a professor emeritus at CIA until his death. He was also the youngest faculty member ever at CIA (then known as the Cleveland School of the Arts). Schreckengost founded CIA's school of industrial design, the first of its kind in the country.[citation needed] His notable students include Giuseppe Delena, chief designer at Ford Motor Co.; Larry Nagode, principal designer at Fisher-Price (father of Ryan Nagode); Joe Oros, head of the studio at Ford that designed the 1965 Ford Mustang, Bill Saunders, Ryobi design director at Techtronic Industries, Sid Ramnarace, designer of the 5th generation Ford Mustang and Jerry Hirshberg, designer of the Infiniti J30 and the 1971 boat tail Buick Riviera.