A three-year Master of Fine Arts degree is offered in studio arts: Ceramics, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, and Graphic Design (effective fall 2009). The first and second years are primarily devoted to studio, seminar, art history, and elective coursework, while the third year is an intensive commitment to studio time in preparation for the thesis exhibition. A normal full-time academic load is 18 credit-hours per quarter, and progress toward the degree is guided by the student’s graduate review committee members to the successful completion of 135 credit hours.

Each student accepted into the School of Art graduate program is assigned an advisor who acts as the chairperson for the student’s formal reviews until matriculation.

Review Process:

First-Year Progress Review
Occurs during the second full-time quarter of study and constitutes a progress assessment of the student’s work by his/her committee members.

First-Year M.F.A. Candidacy Review
Occurs during the third full-time quarter of study and admits the student to full candidacy for the degree by the student’s committee members.

Thesis Proposal Review
Occurs during the sixth full-time quarter of study and establishes the goals and guidelines of the student’s thesis exhibition.

Thesis Exhibition Review
Occurs during the final full-time quarter of study in the third year and satisfies an oral defense of the thesis exhibition.

The School of Art requires that  candidates for the M.F.A., at successful completion of the degree, prepare visual documentation of the work, either 35mm color slides or CD-Rom, to be permanently housed in the Visual Resources Library.