Founded in 1986 and with a network of over 1000 alumni we were the first MFA program in the United States to focus on computer art. Named one of the “Top Ten Digital Art Schools in the World” by ImagineFX magazine, the MFA Computer Arts program is also highly ranked by U.S. News & World Report and the Animation Career Review. The MFA Computer Arts program is individually tailored to each student’s interests and taught by internationally renowned artists, industry professionals, curators, critics and theorists.
● Students must successfully complete 60 credits, including all required courses, and maintain a 3.0 grade point average. A matriculation of two academic years is required.
● The first-year curriculum strengthens and broadens the student's knowledge and creative approach to digital art in preparation for the thesis year.
● The second year revolves around the thesis process—the completion of a body of creative work, combined with academic research and an artist’s statement. Critique and the refinement of a personal aesthetic vision are the two most important elements of the second-year curriculum.
● The first- and second-year academic programs are supplemented by workshops, visiting artists, guest lectures and internship opportunities. Graduates of the department are employed by the most prestigious companies and digital studios including: Adobe, Google, Industrial Light & Magic, Pixar, DreamWorks, Disney, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Blue Sky Studios, The Mill, Charlex, MTV, Electronic Arts. Some alumni choose the entrepreneurship of their own businesses. Those who pursue fine art careers exhibit their work in museums and galleries, including: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, P.S.1/MoMA, Whitney Museum of American Art, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Digital Art Museum, Chelsea Art Museum and Tate Online. By combining creativity with academics, graduates have also published books, scholarly writings and chosen teaching careers at prestigious higher education institutions. Awards have been bestowed upon our students by major international competitions including eight Student Academy Awards, Adobe Design Achievement Awards, Youtube Award, Prix Ars Electronica, SIGGRAPH, Electronic Theater and Art Show, Webby Awards, ISEA and the Leonardo Awards for Excellence. Student works have appeared in such acclaimed festivals as Cannes, Tribeca and Sundance, Annecy, Ottawa and New York, among dozens of others.
