ElizaMFA

Funding is good. Everyone receives some sort of fellowship plus a 10 hr/wk job. After the first semester students can also teach their own courses. Nearly all students become NY residents in the second year to take advantage of in-state tuition as well as the additional resources available to state residents. While funding support is good no one receives a full ride. Still, it is a very good deal. Here is more information on the program from an earlier thread:

I just found out that the SUNY Purchase deadline has been extended to Feb. 10. You already have all your stuff together so apply! When I got my acceptance letters I was glad to have some great options. I'm a pragmatist so financing and an interest in keeping debt to a minimum were a big part of why I chose Purchase. HOWEVER, since coming here I've learned what an awesome community it is. Recently one of the international MFA students got his ass in a crack financially. Supporters from back home got caught with a falling currency and were not able to follow through fully on their commitments to him. This was a huge, huge problem for my friend. It jeopardized his degree and his visa status. Well, the MFAs took action and mobilized the faculty, administration and albums put the squeeze on friends, families, arts organizations etc and within 10 days we secured enough funding to secure his graduation. Even if we get after each other in crits sometimes this crisis made clear how much we are willing to do for each other. Anyway, if you are looking to grow your art in a caring, supportive, yet challenging environment, I hope you check Purchase out.

I've completed my first full semester at Purchase and thought I'd provide an update on my experience. -I continue to find the faculty to be very supportive. As I mentioned to someone in private correspondence, it is easy to reach out and invite faculty you don't even know for a studio and they show up. I've heard of some schools where faculty can be standoffish or outright inaccessible. During my end-of-semester review there were several faculty I had not met and hadn't even heard of (its a huge art department). Two of them approached _me_ to do a studio visit with me. I'm so delighted to find this level of support and interest. -I'm really impressed by my fellow students. No, not everyone produces great work all the time. But it is an environment where you can produce a big stinker, your effort is acknowledged, and you are encouraged to continue. This is not to say that you'll get away with poor work or not trying. There are unique personalities but no one is difficult or back biting. Faculty do help students get shows but more important _students_ help each other get into shows, meet people, and otherwise improve the visibility of their work. Overall students are very supportive of each other and the second years get huge props for reaching out repeatedly to first years. It matters. Several of you from this board have reached out to me privately and I invite anyone to do so. One concern commonly voiced is the quality of the work in the online school gallery and the quality of the overall school website. The website sucks. There are efforts to fix it but as this is a state school money is an issue. As far as the gallery goes, the overwhelming majority of work displayed is _undergraduate_ so it is very difficult to see what the grad students are up to. Hopefully this will be fixed soon. Best of luck out there. If you can commit to the time and focus, art school is great. Eliza

Copied from another post: I just started my first year in the MFA (painting) program at Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA. I was accepted into a number of other recognized schools, some with decent funding and had a really hard time deciding, but in the end I couldn't justify the large debt load. Thus far, GSU has been great. The professors are smart, engaged and Craig Drennan, the new director of the Art department at GSU, was the head of Skowhegan for a number of years and seems to have connections all over the art world. He is a successful artist, while also a fantastic professor. The visiting artists are also really good. They have a large endowment so every grad receives a full tuition waiver and stipends. I am effectively being paid to study art! I would definitely recommend the Georgia State Welch School of Art MFA -http://artdesign.gsu.edu/graduate/admissions/masters-of-fine-arts-in-studio/ I think more people should know about this MFA program, so feel free to ask me any questions.

I'm going to add this to the thread on no/low cost MFA options thread. At the end of the application season I'll put together a complete updated list. Glad you ended up in a good place that won't bankrupt you.

Yes, Rutgers deserves huge prop for committing to making quality MFA education accessible. Glad to hear they are fleshing out the program. When I was looking printmaking was on the ropes (despite the Brodsky center) and I met last week with a perspective photography/video student who was also looking at Rutgers. Her sense was that painting is still the focus. (And they do have some great painters). Thanks for fleshing out the view of Rutgers. They deserve more credit than they get.

Sorry to hear this. Terrible to set your expectations and then not follow through. If you are finding the energy and focus to give it one more try you might consider SUNY Purchase. I'm in my first semester and so far so good. There are a number of current students who do video/photo/installation. I know the in-state students get great packages. Two classmates chose Purchase over Hunter based on the financial support. I also know that no student receives 100% tuition support. Come visit if you are at all curious. Good luck with NYU. Great school. Also look at Rutgers. They recently announced they are funding everyone (assuming you change residency to NJ in your second year). That's a painting-centric program though. Eliza

Update on Rutgers: full scholarship for all first year students. In state tuition for all second year students.

VA.woof, Penn is a great addition. I would edit the original post. Hopefully other people will chime in with additions/edits and I'll do a new updated list later as deadlines draw near. Thanks, Eliza

Some one posted this information from a 2012 posting and I thought it was too important to have buried. I have made changes reflecting my own understanding but it would be to crowdsourcing an update this. West - UCSD (full ride + teaching stipend) - UC Irvine (I believe there is good funding here, but unsure of details) - UCLA (both DMA and the regular arts program give up to 100+% funding with teaching) - USC (many admits get full tuition funding) - UCSB (full finding + excellent stipend and teaching) - Stanford (full ride + excellent stipend and teaching) - UC Berkeley (full ride tuition for instate peeps, out of staters pay difference) - Mills (not always, but I have heard of 50+% funding here) - UC Davis (50-70% funding) - UOregon (full ride + teaching stipend) - UW (full ride) - ASU (Arizona State) (full ride) + (50% tuition + Merit Scholarsihps: for International Students) Midwest - UIowa (I believe there is full funding avail here) - Indiana (full ride, I believe) - UChicago (75% tuition funding + teaching stipend) - KEEP an eye on this program. They are dumping a TON of money into the arts here (esp. with their fabulous Logan Arts Center. A "hidden gem" of a program) - UI-C (I have heard of good funding here) - Northwestern (full ride + excellent stipend and teaching) - SAIC (I hear of one full ride and one half ride per department) - SIUC (Southern Illinois) (full ride + stipend) - UMichigan (full ride, first year travel funding, free computer, + stipend) - Ohio (both state and university) (full rides + stipend to both universities) (I'm sure there are others in the M-W…) South - UGA (Georgia) (excellent funding) - LSU (Louisiana) (excellent funding) - UF (Florida) (full funding) - UTex-Austin (50% or more funding, I have heard of) - Georgia Tech (MS in Digital Media is a full ride) East - Alfred (full ride + stipend) - RPI / iEAR (half the admits get full finding) - Carnegie-Mellon (70+% funding) - RISD (Pres. Scholarships range 40K, 20K and 10K, but most pay) - Rutgers (heard of full funding) - SUNY Buffalo (heard of good-to-full funding here) - Tyler/Temple (sometimes they do offer full funding + stipend to some first year MFAs, but 2nd yr seems to get best funding) - SFMA (has been known to dish out some decent money, but not all the time) - Yale (if you are low income, along with your parents (regardless of your age, they ask for your parent's financials), you can qualify for excellent funding. If not, you will pay) - MIT / ACT (I have heard of around 50% funding) - Univ of Maryland (full ride + teaching stipend) - VCU (70+% funding) - Cornell (full ride + teaching stipend) - MICA (25-50% tuition for some) - Bard (heard of there being up to 50% funding) - Montclair State (heard of excellent funding here) -SUNY Purchase (everyone gets some funding, a few get nearly complete funding) - Keep an eye out for Dartmouth doing a production orientated "Digital Studies" Masters in the future, and if it is anything like their outstanding "Digital Musics", it'll be a full ride +)

I would not go by what one finds on the faculty pages. The faculty with the most productive art careers will either have their own sites or will present most of their work through their gallery/ies. The school's site alone will not tell you everything you will want to know about faculty work. Also, I wouldn't expect much of an email response from faculty unless they are in charge of recruitment. I agree with nongfuspring that if faculty don't have an independent website they probably don't have much of an art career.

You might look into SUNY Purchase, esp if you care about funding and limiting your debt. Half the grads live in the city.

thanks, LReeves!

Ha! I didn't even know there was an online gallery. Please keep in mind that Purchase is predominantly an undergraduate program and that's the work that appears in the gallery. For MFAs this means small program but great facilities. The program is far from perfect but I think this is going to work for me. In any event, I'm not trying to sell you on Purchase. I do think it is an undervalued alternative to very expensive programs. Sounds like you know your own mind, which is crucial. Best of luck. Hope one of residencies turns out well for you.

I know this board is to help people apply to and assess MFA programs but I need your help. For a project I'm looking at BFA programs in NY state. We all know the usual suspects but I'm interested in hearing from graduates of the under-appreciated programs. If you had a positive experience in an NY state (public or private) visual arts program I'd love to know about it. What made it good? Who were your exceptional teachers? Thanks, Eliza