MFA, MA, and PhD Programs to Apply for by Early 2025


Northeastern United States

Bard Graduate Center
Emerging curators, researchers, educators, and museum professionals learn to ask new questions about the cultural history of the material world through the NYC institution’s MA and PhD programs.

Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College
CCS Bard’s two-year graduate program in New York’s Hudson Valley offers intensive training in contemporary art history, exhibition practices, and theory since the 1960s, paired with hands-on experience in exhibition-making, work placements, and curatorial programming.

Columbia University
The Visual Arts + Sound Art Program offers students many opportunities to expand the depth and complexity of their studio practice, as well as their ability to think critically in the context of contemporary art theory.

Cornell University
Cornell’s MFA in Creative Visual Arts focuses on studio practice across all mediums, while the new low-residency MFA in Image Text blends creative writing, contemporary visual media, and design for print and digital publication.

Dartmouth College
Dartmouth’s MFA in Sonic Practice is a three-year, fully funded graduate program for artists, composers, and scholars working expansively with sound.

Maine College of Art & Design
The MFA program at MECA&D offers an interdisciplinary approach that encourages students to think across traditional academic boundaries.

Massachusetts College of Art and Design
With concentrations in Painting, Printmaking, and Sculpture, MassArt’s new MFA in Studio Arts fosters cross-pollination across studio disciplines while maintaining depth in chosen media concentrations.

New York Studio School
Develop your work and aesthetic philosophy through NYSS’s MFA and Certificate programs. Classes are bolstered by Evening Lecture Series, technical workshops, one-on-one faculty guidance, group critiques, visiting artists, and faculty-guided trips.

Purchase College
Graduate students have access to generous financial support and paid teaching opportunities, state-of-the-art facilities, and New York City’s vibrant art scene.

School of Visual Arts
SVA’s New York-based, globally linked MA in Curatorial Practice provides hands-on training with renowned faculty and experts in small case-study seminars, writing workshops, and professional practice workshops.

SUNY New Paltz
All accepted out-of-state and international MFA students receive a scholarship that waives out-of-state tuition, and 90% of students benefit from paid assistantships, scholarships, or tuition waivers.

University at Albany
The affordable, interdisciplinary MFA program seeks to broaden and deepen students’ understanding of contemporary art to better develop their studio preoccupations.

University at Buffalo
Full-tuition scholarships and fully funded teaching appointments are available for students at this flagship R1-designated research university in New York state.

University of Connecticut
This fully-funded three-year graduate program in Southern New England supports a broad range of art making, culminating with an exhibition in a Northeastern US gallery and an on-campus thesis exhibition.

University of Maryland, Baltimore County
The university’s MFA in Intermedia and Digital Arts (IMDA MFA) invites applications from interdisciplinary artists seeking to expand or reinvent their practice. Full funding is available.


Southern United States

Georgia State University
The Atlanta school offers graduate degrees in Ceramics, Drawing & Painting, Graphic Design, Interior Design, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, Textiles, and Art Education.

Texas A&M University
The MFA and MS in Visualization in the College of Performance, Visualization & Fine Arts are uniquely interdisciplinary graduate programs that merge art and science, technical applications, and creativity.

Texas Christian University
All admitted Art History graduate students at TCU receive a full tuition waiver, a stipend, health insurance, and additional funds for research travel.

Tulane University
In fall 2025, the New Orleans school will launch the Crossroads Cohort, a new interdisciplinary program that allows students to pursue graduate study at the intersection of Africana studies and art.

University of Arkansas
Students in Art Education, Art History, Graphic Design, and Studio Art have access to additional support through graduate assistantships, fellowships, and research and travel grants.

University of Texas at Austin
This funded, two-year program offers a multidisciplinary environment driven by the individual interests of each cohort, utilizing UT’s extensive physical, technical, and intellectual resources.


Midwestern United States

Cranbrook Academy of Art
Ranked as one of the top graduate-only programs in fine art, architecture, and design in the US, Cranbrook is a place for students looking to leave their MFA program prepared to enter the industry or open their own studio practice immediately.

School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Encouraging interdisciplinary exploration across mediums, the top-ranked fine arts school offers MFA, MA, MArch, MDes, MS, and Low-Residency MFA degrees, including a new MFA in Comics.

Washington University in St. Louis
Join a small cohort of renegade makers and thinkers in this two-year, fully residential program at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts in St. Louis, Missouri.


Western United States

California State University, Northridge
The Master of Design and Innovation program at CSUN is flexible, online, and offers a tailored curriculum with hands-on job experience.

Institute of American Indian Arts
Low-residency Studio Arts MFA students at IAIA enjoy mentorships with prominent Indigenous artists, flexible schedules, and a broad perspective on Indigenous arts.

Pacific Northwest College of Art
PNCA offers distinctive graduate art and design education in the heart of Portland, Oregon, where students can advance their craft and career with an MFA or MA.

University of California, Los Angeles
UCLA’s three-year MFA in Media Arts offers a rigorous environment for bold experimentation, fostering critical thinking and art making within the context of media and technology.

University of New Mexico
UNM’s graduate programs foster creativity and intellectual discourse, uniting studio artists, art historians, and educators to push boundaries and connect across disciplines.


Global

Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts
The truly nomadic IDSVA is ideal for working art professionals interested in pursuing a PhD without having to interrupt or abandon their teaching careers, art practice, or other professional responsibilities.


Stay up-to-date with the latest from graduate school programs at hyperallergic.com/tag/art-education-announcements.

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