Graduate Admissions

Students must have undergraduate backgrounds judged by the graduate faculty to be appropriate preparation for graduate study in visual art. This includes, a B.F.A. or B.A. in visual art or other creative discipline, and/or significant evidence of graduate-ready work in their respective art practice, and/or a significant exhibition record in the field. Students from diverse backgrounds and diverse points of view are welcomed and strongly encouraged to apply.

Application Materials

All admissions materials must be received by February 1st to be considered for admission. Admission is for the fall semester only. Applications not received by the deadline will be held in an inactive status for one year unless reactivated by the applicant for admission consideration to a later term. GRE scores are not required.

Complete the online application available at KU's Graduate Studies website and submit it.

There is an application fee which can be paid online as the last step of the application. Application forms submitted without a fee cannot be processed.

Application Fees:

Domestic Application: $65.00
Degree Seeking International Application $85.00
Non Degree Seeking Application (Domestic and International) $30.00

These letters should be from former or current instructors and/or those able to recommend you on the basis of professional experience. Provide names and email addresses for each recommender on your application. The recommender will receive a notice from the Admissions Office instructing them to upload a recommendation letter. The applicant must assume responsibility for ensuring that the department receives these letters by the deadline.

Provide an official transcript from all colleges and universities attended. Upload a copy of each transcript to your application and also send an official copy of all transcripts to Graduate Admissions. It can take three weeks for transcripts to arrive.

Include a concise 1-2 page double-spaced statement of purpose stating the objectives you hope to achieve through graduate study. Please specify your preferred area of study: Ceramics, Drawing/Painting, Expanded Media, Metalsmithing/Jewelry, Printmaking, Sculpture or Textiles/Fibers.

You may include the following information in your artist resume/cv: relevant professional art-related details, education, exhibitions, workshops, curatorial projects, art reviews, collections, awards, or residencies. Please list information that you feel will assist the review committee in evaluating your application materials.

Applicants can upload 15 to 20 images of their artwork via Slate. Instructions regarding image size and formatting are listed on the website. Title each image and include the dimensions, medium, and date.

Interactive or time-based works (a reel of excerpts with intertitles) can be also submitted. Examples should not exceed 5 minutes in duration and can be combined with an image-based portfolio.

Graduate Program

International Students

There are two additional requirements for International students.

Immigration regulations require every international student to verify the availability of financial resources to pay for all education, living and other expenses before the visa form is issued. Please see the International Degree-Seeking Application for Admission form for further details.

Non-native English speakers must demonstrate proof of English proficiency before gaining admission to a graduate program.

More information can be found on the Graduate Studies English Proficiency Policy page.

International Admissions

Other Considerations

On rare occasions, the department may recommend an applicant who does not meet the University’s minimum requirements for provisional admission. This may occur, for example, if a student’s overall undergraduate GPA is deficient but the major GPA scores and admissions essay suggest strong potential for success in graduate study. All recommendations for provisional admission are contingent on approval by the College University.

To continue in the program, students admitted provisionally must meet with the Director of Graduate Studies at the start of the academic term, must comply with any requests for additional meetings or communications, and must earn at least a 3.0 GPA in their first 9 credit hours of qualified graduate coursework at KU.

Admissions decisions cannot be made until all application materials are received.
Students admitted to and enrolled in a regular full-time degree-seeking category will be given first priority consideration for the assignment of individual graduate student working space. These spaces are limited and are not normally available for part-time students. Those admitted as special non-degree seeking students should not expect individual studio spaces.