Program Overview

Northern Illinois University

School of Art and Design

College of Visual and Performing Arts

Undergraduate Programs

The School of Art and Design offers various undergraduate programs, including:

• B.F.A. Art Studio and Design
• B.A. and B.S. Art
• B.S.Ed. Art and Design Education
• B.A. Art History
• Accelerated B.A./J.D. Program
• Digital Fabrication Certificate

B.F.A. Art Studio and Design Specializations

The B.F.A. Art Studio and Design program offers specializations in:

• Ceramics
• Drawing
• Fiber
• Illustration
• Metal
• Painting
• Photography
• Printmaking
• Sculpture
• Time Arts
• Visual Communications

Graduate Programs

The School of Art and Design also offers graduate programs, including:

• M.A. Art (Specialization in Studio Art) / M.F.A. Art and Design
• M.A. Art (Specializations in either Art History Research or Teaching at the Two-Year College Level)
• M.S. - Art and Design Education
• M.S. - Art and Design Education (online)
• Ph.D. - Art and Design Education
• Art History Certificate
• Digital Fabrication Certificate
• Museum Studies Certificate

Program Details

The curriculum for the B.F.A. Art Studio and Design program offers an introduction to all of the visual arts professions offered by the School of Art and Design. All undergraduate degree programs in art, with the exception of the major in art history, require 12 semester hours of foundations courses. These include classes in 2-D and 3-D traditional and digital design and two classes in basic drawing, all taken during the first year. In addition, all studio and art education majors must take a beginning life drawing class and a two-course sequence surveying the history of world art.

Requirements

The basic curriculum, taken during the first and second years, comprises a total of 21 semester hours of the 120 or more semester hours required to complete an undergraduate degree at NIU. Transfer students may satisfy some or all of these prerequisite courses at other institutions, depending on the evaluation of their transfer credit upon entering NIU.