All graduate applicants to the University of Utah must meet the following minimum Graduate School requirements:

• • A bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited U.S. college or university. The Office of Admissions will determine if an applicant’s degree meets the Graduate School's requirement of a recognized Bachelor's degree.
  • A 3.0 or higher cumulative GPA in the undergraduate career or demonstrable academic readiness for graduate-level studies.
  • Meet the academic department’s admission standards and receive a recommendation for admission to their program.

We do not require a GRE score to apply. Please include all the necessary paperwork in your portfolio and ensure your letters of recommendation are submitted before the deadline. The faculty will review the applications after January 15th, and acceptance letters will be mailed around the beginning of March. We only accept applications for the fall semester of each year.

The University of Utah Admissions Office utilizes the Slate website for all online graduate applications. Please click the button to the right to begin your application process. You will then select the "Create an Account" hyperlink.

You will be asked several questions during the application process, such as your research area of interest. The current list is Book Arts, Community-Based Art Education, Graphic Design, Illustration, Painting and Drawing, Photography and Digital Imaging, Printmaking, and Sculpture Intermedia. Since you will be working towards an MFA in Studio Art, which is not specific to an art field, selecting a research area at the beginning of the application will help us with our review process and aid in selecting your mentoring committee.

You must submit the following items:

• A letter of intent and a detailed artist statement that addresses the following:
  • • Describe current artistic interests, the direction of your work, preferred area of study, influences, and why.
    • Write about relevant experiences that have prepared you as an artist and describe why this is the right time for graduate school.
    • Describe your professional goals and how you plan to achieve them while in school and after.
    • Please describe what you can contribute, initiate, and risk as a community member.
    • Why is this program a good fit for you?

Please be aware that the faculty most often recommends admissions to individuals with a studio art background, which generally includes 40 undergraduate credits and a minimum of 12 credits in art history (quarter equivalents apply), and some exhibition experiences.

• A CV or resume that includes your complete contact information, your educational background, and any honors or awards. If you have any teaching experience, please list it as well.
• Please provide the names and emails of three (3) people who can write letters of recommendation that speak to your creative talent and your ability to succeed in a rigorous academic program (academic references from former or current professors are preferable to those from employers). They will receive an email from the admissions office with a custom link where they will be asked to fill out a questionnaire and upload their letters.
• Portfolio.
  • • We want to see consistency, technique, and your creative voice within the work.
    • It needs to be a high-resolution (suggested 300 PPI) single PDF file. (The application process does allow for individual image uploads, but it downsamples the quality of those files.)
    • Your portfolio should contain 20 images.
    • Post one work per page with a maximum of 2 images per page. For example, you might have a full view and then a detail on the same page. Use multiple pages if more views are necessary to understand the piece.
    • Add a text description at the bottom of each page with the following information: Title, Dimensions, Medium, Date completed (the year is sufficient).
    • To submit videos or sound files, you must first upload them to a website such as Box, Google Drive, DropBox, OneDrive, Vimeo, or YouTube. Once the file is hosted, please provide the URL in the PDF.
• Transcripts from each college or university attended. They can be unofficial, but the admissions office requires official transcripts if you are offered a position in our program.
• Complete the application form and pay the applicable fee. The non-refundable graduate application fee for domestic applicants is $55, and for international students is $65. The department cannot waive or cover the cost of the application fee.
• For international students, an English language proficiency test score is required. Please visit the Admission's English Proficiency page to answer your questions and submit the scores. Your tests must have been completed within two years of submission, and the admissions office cannot use expired test scores to evaluate the English proficiency requirement. This is the current list of acceptable tests and scores:
  • • TOEFL: 80 or higher
    • IELTS: 6.5 or higher
    • DUOLINGO: 110 or higher
    • ACT English score of 18 or higher
    • SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW) Score of 510 or higher
    • TOEIC: This is only for UAC applicants. For more information, go here: https://asiacampus.utah.edu/apply/

Please visit the Graduate Students Admissions web page for further instructions about the application process. You can check the status of your submission by contacting info@art.utah.edu or (801) 581-8677.