Program will subsidize tuition for all incoming graduate students beginning fall 2016

The scholarships reflect the school’s belief that graduate study in art should be accessible to students from a diverse range of backgrounds.

Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts has announced that beginning next fall, all incoming visual arts graduate students will receive scholarships equivalent to full out-of-state tuition in the first year and full in-state tuition for the second year of the MFA program.

The scholarships reflect the school’s belief that graduate study in art should be accessible to students from a diverse range of backgrounds. Combined with private studios and the resources of a major public research university, these scholarships give students the opportunity to fully focus on their work within a stimulating and supportive community of equals.

Department Chair Gerry Beegan explains, “As a public university we feel that critical art practice should be the focus of our graduate program and that access should be as democratic as possible. Given our strong faculty to student ratio we encourage artists to engage in a dialogue with each other, faculty, visiting artists, and critics. They can also connect with our undergraduates through teaching and mentorship opportunities.”

The full-time 60-credit MFA degree program offers seminars in painting, sculpture, photography, media, and printmaking. Each graduate student at Mason Gross receives private studio space that is available year-round, 24 hours a day, for the duration of their study.

Graduate students mount exhibitions in the school’s 4,000-square-foot gallery space, dedicated to showcasing student work, and follow up their final thesis show with an exhibition in New York City.

The Mason Gross School’s MFA program was established in 1960 as the first non-disciplinary-specific fine art graduate program in the United States. This intimate community of artists within Rutgers University has a history of being a vibrant locus for interdisciplinary inquiry and critical reflection. Notable MFA alumni include Alice Aycock, CherylDunye, Amy Feldman, Raque Ford, Matthew Day Jackson, Paddy Johnson, Jennie C. Jones, Israel Lund, JeanineOleson, Cliff Owens, William Pope.L, Charles Ray, Lucas Samaras, Juan Sánchez, George Segal, Mimi Smith, Joan Snyder, Keith Sonnier, Jackie Winsor, and Wendy White.

Applications for fall 2016 admission are being accepted through February 1, 2016. 


For media inquiries or questions about the program, contact Laurie Granieri at 848-932-5239 or lgranieri@masongross.rutgers.edu.