Top Low Residency MFA in Visual Arts (Including Online)
A selection of top low res programs for artists
Modern education system was quick to respond to the needs of applicants - we may want to be artists one day, but we also have to keep our day job, take kids to day care, follow up on this and that and yet, make time to study and do art.
Many leading universities decided to introduce low-residency programs for Masters in Fine Arts. The most popular is creative writing, but I will talk only about visual arts.
What is a low residency program?
A Low-residency masters degree is a legitimate degree you can get over 2 or 3 years of mixed on and off-campus learning to help you keep your jow and daily routine.
It is best suited for those with art practice and families and who cannot afford (in terms of time) to be full-time on campus.
Usually a low residency program runs like this:
summer - on-campus very intensive course
winter - studio practice (meaning at home)
Or it can be two residencies on site during the year and in-between you doing the studies.
In some cases when the program is 3 years it is because it has only 1 on-campus residency - in summer.
Price
Some universities do quotes based on credits, some based on semester or year. Additionally, there will be application fees, on-campus fees for summer semester and a few others.
At the ned of the day, a low-residency program will be pretty much same price as a regular 2-year MFA.
I will give examples below.
Best Low-Residency MFA in Visual Arts
There are only a few offering the course completely online. Most I will label as “in-person” which doesn’t mean on-campus, it means only that you will have to attend residencies in person.
SCAD Savannah
available online and in-person
online application fee $100, enrollment fee $500, annual tuition for 24/25 US$42,120.
Duration: for online programs you need 90 hours.
Link: https://www.scad.edu/academics/programs/painting/degrees/mfa
Lesley University
in-person
cost for 23/24 is $73,000
duration: 2 years.
Link: https://lesley.edu/academics/graduate/visual-arts>
Vermont college
in-person
2-year program cost is $59,322.00
Link: https://vcfa.edu/programs/mfa-in-visual-art/
Maryland Institute
in-person
cost is $26,580 per summer semester plus some additional fees
3 years
Link: https://www.mica.edu/graduate-programs/studio-art-summer-low-residency-mfa/
SVA NYC
in-person
cost (not very clear on the website) - around $21,960-$22,000 per year.
3 years (one summer residency of 7 weeks each year)
Link: https://sva.edu/academics/graduate/mfa-art-practice
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
in-person
cost spring 2023: $1,433/credit hour. I believe the program requires 60 credits.
duration: 3 years (3 summer residencies)
Link: https://www.pafa.org/school/academics/graduate/low-res-mfa
SAIC, Chicago
in-person
cost - $500 deposit to secure the spot. $1926 per credit hour + many additional fees.
duration: 3 years
Link: https://www.saic.edu/low-residency-mfa
Maharishi University
in-person
costs for 24/25 $18,064 per year
2.5 years
Link: https://www.miu.edu/mfa-in-visual-art
Institute of American Indian Arts
in-person
cost: $7,500 per semester + fees
2 years
Link: https://iaia.edu/explore-programs/studio-arts-mfa/
Bard MFA
in-person
cost: summer $19,950, winter $6,070 + fees
2.2 month but it makes up 3 summers
Link: https://www.bard.edu/mfa/program/
Lindenwood
online
$551 pre credit hour - you need 30.
1-2 years
Link: https://online.lindenwood.edu/programs/masters-studio-art/
The downside is I don’t know how good it is. They offer twice less credit hours, they do not mention any painting practice - only drawing, sculpture and 3D and probably have the least info on the website compared to universities above.
Maine College of Art & Design
in-person (full residency also available)
Annual cost is around $42,192 (24/25) + fees
6 terms over 2 years
Link: https://meca.edu/academics/mfa/
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
in-person
cost $51,000 + fees
3 years
Link: https://massart.edu/mfa-fine-arts-low-residency
*list will be uptaded as I will find more for sure*
Do they accept international students?
They do. But you will have to prove your English level with TOEFL and for some programs you will also need to present your degree and have enough hours in certain disciplines, for ex for MICA.
You will most likely need an F1 (student visa) in US, but it will be only for those periods of time when the on-campus residency happens. You won’t be eligible to stay the whole year or work.
I will also make posts on different artists support groups and courses, stay tuned!
Online Post-Graduate MFA in UK
Falmouth University
Online
£12,150 total fee
2 years
Link: https://www.falmouth.ac.uk/study/online/postgraduate/fine-art
They have Bachelor in Fine Arts as well.
Arts University Bournemouth
in-person and online
ex., £9,900 for online MFA illustration
2 years
Link: https://online.aub.ac.uk/
UAL
under and post-grad, online only MFA in digital art
£6,665 per year
2 years
Link: https://www.arts.ac.uk/subjects/fine-art/postgraduate/ma-fine-art-digital-csm#course-overview
The Open College of Arts
online, part-time
cost is around 20,000 pounds for the whole program
3-year programs or part-time program that can be studied for up to 12 years.
Link: https://www.oca.ac.uk/courses/ma-fine-art/
A big advantage of this degree is that they accept new students on a monthly basis, not strictly during a certain season.
Online Programs
Royal Drawing School
Online Drawing Development Year
£3980 per year paid in 3 installments.
Link: https://www.royaldrawingschool.org/courses/online-programme/online-drawing-development-year/
This program was highly recommended from a fellow artist but it is not a degree nor an accredited course.
Thé royal drawing one is on my dream list but omg that a lot of money ! Do you have any plan to enroll in one ?