Vermont College of Fine Arts

The study and practice of art-making at VCFA is an immersive, constantly evolving process. Aspiring, emerging or established, our filmmakers, writers, composers, and visual artists grow individually through intensive engagement with their craft and lively, often profound exchanges of ideas and work.

As the only college devoted exclusively to graduate fine arts education, Vermont College of Fine Arts, nestled on a hill overlooking picturesque Montpelier, offers artists and writers a transformative and progressive educational experience through its acclaimed MFA programs and a unique MA graduate program in Art & Design Education.

VCFA’s rigorous educational model, based on individualized study plans and one-on-one mentoring with nationally recognized faculty, propels you into unexplored artistic territory. Whatever your choice of study, you’ll emerge with a dynamic new vision of yourself, your work and the world around you.

Anchored on its historic campus in Montpelier, Vermont, VCFA is a global community of artists continuously redefining what it means to be an arts college. We measure our success by our ability to foster the excellence of emerging and established practitioners. We believe that the arts are central to the human experience and have the ability not only to reflect reality but also to create it.

Students come to Vermont College of Fine Arts for our rigorous course of study, our emphasis on the creative process, and to work closely with our award-winning faculty members who advance and inspire their work. Nationally acclaimed and built on an integrated approach, VCFA offers seven low-residency programs and a new residential program.

Our unique low-residency programs bring students and faculty together on our historic campus for intense and invigorating residencies. During the ensuing six months of faculty-guided, self-designed individualized study at home, students submit new creative work, revisions and critical responses, deepening the ongoing dialogue between student and faculty advisor.

Our two-year residential MFA in Writing and Publishing offers the perfect place to practice your craft. Versatile course offerings include a classroom model combining the best of workshop and studio-art traditions and modular scheduling where faculty collaborate to teach one course in short-intense blocks of time. It offers a space where pioneers develop the tools to write books as well as survive in their cultural scene with longevity.

Take the next step in your artistic career! The Admissions Office is ready to help with your questions about the College, our programs, or the application process. Call or email us today.

Vermont College of Fine Arts' five-year average annual tuition increase is 3.5%. The national five-year annual average for master's degree granting institutions is 4.2%. Financial assistance in the form of grants, loans, scholarships and fellowships, is available to eligible students attending VCFA academic degree programs.

VCFA does not discriminate on the basis of disability in admission or access to, or employment in, its programs and activities. In return, every student with a disability has the responsibility to meet the college’s qualifications and academic standards, and to provide documentation as necessary to support requests for reasonable accommodations.

Vermont College of Fine Arts is certified by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) to admit International students, and welcomes applications from international students. VCFA must issue an I-20 Certificate of Eligibility to each international student in advance of every on-campus residency.

In addition, all international students other than Canadian citizens will need to obtain an F-1 Student Visa prior to each residency period. A national center for graduate arts education, Vermont College of Fine Arts offers eight nationally recognized degree programs led by award-winning faculty. Graduate Fine Arts Education . . . Reimagined.

Located in the vibrant state capital of Montpelier, Vermont College of Fine Arts encourages emerging and established artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers, and designers to deepen their personal work while contributing to the larger culture.

With its unparalleled natural beauty, Vermont has long been a haven for writers and artists. The campus, with its pastoral landscape and rural charm, provides the physical and psychic space needed to foster the creative process. VCFA offers seven distinctive masters of fine arts degrees and a unique MAT/MA graduate program in Art & Design Education. Each program is designed for those who wish to refine their craft and develop a body of work through a highly individualized curriculum.

For the last 175 years, Vermont College has served as a pillar institution in Vermont, serving thousands of students from across the country.

From its beginnings as Montpelier Seminary to its illustrious history as Vermont Junior College and Vermont College, the institution has provided opportunities for students of all disciplines to pursue their educational goals. Vermont College officially opened its doors as Newbury Seminary in Newbury, Vermont, in 1834.

Since 1868, Vermont College has been located on a 31-acre campus in Montpelier at the intersection of East State Street and College Street. The striking campus, patterned with brick buildings and centered by a scenic college green, was previously the site of a Civil War hospital.