School of Visual Arts is a for-profit art and design college located in Manhattan, New York, founded in 1947. The college is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design, a consortium of 36 leading art schools in the United States.

It has been a leader in the education of artists, designers and creative professionals for more than six decades. With a faculty of distinguished working professionals, dynamic curriculum and an emphasis on critical thinking, SVA is a catalyst for innovation and social responsibility. Comprised of more than 6,000 students at its Manhattan campus and 35,000 alumni in 100 countries, SVA also represents one of the most influential artistic communities in the world.

What are the top 3 program features that make your program stand out?

1. Located in the heart of New York City, SVA features an urban-style campus with 15 buildings across the Gramercy-Flatiron and Chelsea neighborhoods. NYC has a creative workforce of 300,000 and is home to more than 14,000 creative business and nonprofits. It is from this community that we are able to choose faculty that are at the top of their profession and where students find opportunities for internships and jobs.

2. The resources and tools available to our students are state-of-the art and updated on a regular basis. Students learn on industry-standard equipment and software to ensure that they have all the skills and training that employers are looking for.

3. Our curriculum is updated regularly to make certain that we are teaching what is relevant in the field today and that our programs are meeting the needs of our students. We ensure this by requiring all faculty to be working professionals or practicing, gallery represented artists, who know first hand what it takes to be successful. We are adaptable and innovative, not afraid to experiment and try new things.

What makes your school’s art & design programs different & unique from other art & design school programs?

From its inception, the College has chosen its faculty from New York Citybased professionals working in the arts and art-related fields. SVA students thereby experience excellence while being introduced to and challenged by the professional standards they will be expected to uphold in their working lives. Because faculty members are working in the students’ major field, they are an important link to internship and job opportunities. It is not uncommon for courses to meet off site at the offices and studios where our faculty members work.

For many of our programs like Animation, Computer Art, Film, Photography and Video and Interior Design, students begin taking courses in their major starting freshman year and do not have a traditional foundation year.

With an undergraduate population of 3,500 across 11 BFA departments, we are able to offer a wide selection of courses giving students in larger departments a lot of choices when creating their course plans. Programs, such as Design, Film, Illustration, Photography and Video, allow students to select a major concentration or track within the growing fields. A broad course selection also allows students to learn from a diverse range of faculty members, develop their own unique style and embrace different approaches to art making.

Can students take courses in other schools?

The curriculum for each program allows for students to take elective credits in other programs at the College. It is not uncommon for a Photography and Video major to take a Painting course or a Design student to take a digital photography course.

What steps do you take to evaluate a student’s candidacy, apart from reviewing their creative portfolio?

We require the following of our applicants:
1. Application and $50 fee
2. Statement of Intent
3. Transcripts from all high schools/colleges attended
4. SAT or ACT test scores
5. Portfolio
6. English Proficiency score (for international applicants)

All components of the application are considered when reviewing an applicant for admission. However, the student’s academic record and the portfolio are the two parts of the application that carry the most weight.

What does your program look for most in the creative portfolio during admissions? What do you think makes an A+ portfolio? 


The best portfolios show strong technical ability along with originality and conceptual thought. We encourage applicants to incorporate their own personality and perspective into their work and to not be afraid to push boundaries and take risks. Applicants should take great care when documenting their pieces and present to us a curated body of work that best reflects their interests and skills.

How are new technologies affecting students’ curriculums and/or ways of learning/collaborating at your school? 


Today’s learners benefit from having access to course work at any time, from any location, from many devices — and they deserve online access to their classmates for sharing ideas, and collaborating on challenging problems. SVA employs a campus-wide online learning system that includes tools specific to art education. We know that engaging students in discussion and project-based learning drives critical reflection, deeper understanding of key concepts, as well as the ability to apply the learning to various situations. To further support these learning goals we have developed multimodal courses that embrace various methods of communication between students, and create opportunities for project-based learning and collaboration beyond the traditional classroom. Such interactions can help students develop the confidence to share and defend their ideas, and collaborate effectively.

We are continually re-evaluating our curriculum to ensure that it is relevant and reflective of the industry today. We invest a lot of resources to ensure that our facilities, technology and equipment are as up to date as possible so that our students are learning on the industry standard. SVA also has a department — the Office of Learning Technologies (OLT) — dedicated to supporting our new online technologies both in the classroom and anywhere students and faculty might be.

How does your program help graduating students with internships or jobs? Can students expect job placement more at your program than in others? If so, how or why? What kinds of job opportunities have you seen students take once they completed their degrees?

Career Development supports students and alumni in building their professional networks while providing them with the information and resources they need to prosper as creative professionals. In addition to offering educational workshops and career counseling, the office hosts career fairs and industry events that directly connect students with industry. Recruiters from top creative companies visit campus to meet with students, review portfolios and promote their employment opportunities through the College’s online job board. Our Internship for Credit Program provides opportunities for students to work with creative professionals at top New York City-based agencies, as well as in their home cities over the summer. Rather than placing students, Career Development educates and helps students navigate their job search and make the transition from college to the world of work. Upon graduation, our alumni go on to become art directors, film makers, animators, photographers, writers, studio artists, illustrators, comic book artists/authors, and graphic designers.

Are there any exciting developments for your programs that students should know about?

This year, we changed our BFA Photography program’s name to BFA Photography and Video, recognizing that video has become an important aspect of the curriculum as technology has allowed for DSLR cameras to capture video and sound. Students in this program mostly focus on experimental or short-form video, as opposed to narrative filmmaking.

We will open a new residence hall in August 2016 at 407 First Avenue. The 146,827-square-foot building will house 500 students and administrative offices, while also featuring indoor and outdoor exhibition and screening spaces. For more information: blog.sva.edu/2015/04/sva-breaksground-fornew-residence-hall

What is the most distinguished feature at your school?

1. SVA was the first accredited college to offer the MFA in Computer Art. [Approved 1985, opened in Fall 1986.]

2. Built in 2011, the Nature and Technology Lab (also known as the Bio Art Lab) is the first lab of its kind built in an art school in the United States. (bioart.sva.edu)

3. SVA is also home to the Milton Glaser Design Study Center and Archives.

What is the best advice you have for students entering the art, design & architecture field? What role does the artist play today?

In 2016 the artist’s role in culture and commerce is, increasingly, any role the artist can imagine. An art school education teaches students to be critical thinkers, collaborators and creative problem solvers. These attributes are in high demand across the creative economy today and are a solid grounding for positions that have not even been created yet.

Success in today’s art world is often dependent on your network and connections. The friends you meet in school, the faculty members and mentors you learn from and the other people that make up your community are important relationships that will help you throughout your career. Taking the time to cultivate meaningful and substantive relationships is important and starts the first day of school.

Interviewed by Yoi Tanaka Gayler, Director of Admissions at SVA

APPLICATION MATERIALS

SVA online app

PORTFOLIO REQUIREMENTS

Slideroom 15-20 pieces 

WRITING SAMPLE

Statement of Intent 

TRANSCRIPTS

Required

RECOMMENDATION LETTERS

1-2 Recommended 

INTERVIEW

Not required

APPLICATIONS DEADLINES

Early Action: Dec 1
Regular Application: Feb 1

*It is recommended applicants submit all materials 4 months prior to start 

FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

TOEFL: 550 (paper) or 80 (iBT)
IELTS: 6.5
PTE: 53

ALUMNI

Michael Bierut, Designer
Jim Dine, Artist
Mike Gasaway, Animator 
Michael Graves, Architect
Sean Gresens, Art director
Stan Herman, Designer
Cathy Davenport Lee, Creative director
Joseph Marioni, Painter
David Opdyke, Artist
Michael Reynolds, Architect
Kevin Roche, Interior designer
Joe Stitzlein, Creative director
Shane Wolf, Artist
Luke Woods, Product designer

FACT!

Student/Faculty Ratio: 18 to 1

Programs of Study: 379 

Toal Enrollment: 44,251

DID YOU KNOW?

To support the growing ranks of students and alumni from South Korea and China, the College opened offices in 2014,  in Seoul and Shanghai, where members of the SVA community can meet to network, celebrate each other’s work and attend lectures and workshops.

Visual & Critical Studies is designed for students who want a broad exposure to the studio arts while they simultaneously investigate the historical, cultural and theoretical movements that give those arts shape, dimension and power.

ADMISSIONS OFFICE

School of Visual Arts
209 East 23 Street
New York, NY 10010-3994

+1 (212)-592-2000