Financial Aid

Money Well Spent

MICA’s mission is to empower students to forge creative, purposeful lives and careers in a diverse and changing world.

We are committed to making our programs available to talented students who want to learn here. College is an investment, and MICA offers a tremendous value to you and your future. That is why MICA staff and faculty want to support you as you make your decision.

How do you know it is money well spent? What factors matter? Consider this:

MICA is consistently ranked in the top tier of visual arts colleges in the U.S., and we enroll the most talented and driven students from around the country and around the world.


  • Founded in 1826, MICA is the oldest independent, continuous degree-granting college of art in the nation..
  • MICA is ranked in the top 10 best MFA programs in the visual arts. It also ranks fourth in graphic design, sixth in painting/drawing, and sixth in sculpture by the U.S. News & World Report.
  • In five of the last 10 years, MICA has been listed as a top producer of Fulbright Scholars among specialty schools by The Chronicle of Higher Education.
  • In 2025, MICA was ranked #1 in animation and graphic design programs in Maryland, and top 10 on the east coast, with animation ranked top 50 nationally and graphic design ranked top 10 nationally by Animation Career Review.

A view of MICA's Main Building and Brown Center at night.

MICA is a nationally recognized leader in innovative art and design education. We have spent decades refining our programs and curriculum so that students are prepared for the growing opportunities that exist now — and in the future — for artists and designers.


  • Over the past decade, MICA has launched a series of forward-thinking programs designed to prepare artists and designers to apply creative problem-solving across a broad range of professional contexts. These programs span creative entrepreneurship, business, curatorial and critical studies, liberal arts, product and user experience design, data analytics and visualization, game design, global studies, environmental sustainability, and social change
  • MICA has developed a partnership with the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School to create the MA/MBA in Design Leadership program — the first such partnership between an art college and a major research university.
  • MICA offers a Business for Creatives MPS degree where students can choose between an entrepreneurship track or product management track to gain the skills, knowledge, and confidence to lead a successful business and bring a product to market.
  • MICA launched the Ratcliffe Center for Creative Entrepreneurship, which addresses the needs of students and alumni developing businesses in the new creative economy. One initiative, the UP/Start Venture Competition, focuses on incubating and building creative businesses within the MICA community. Working with industry partners, UP/Start provides mentorship and capital to help nurture ideas into sustainable businesses. Finalists compete for a pool of $105,000 to support the launch and growth of their ventures.
  • MICA connects students with fields beyond art and design through a number of collaborative efforts, including one with Johns Hopkins University’s Extreme Materials Institute—where student interns help researchers interpret data in ways accessible to non-scientists—and another with scientists from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, where Animation students create short films that explore everything from dark matter to dwarf galaxies and help to educate the public about Fermi’s mission.
  • Our Biofabrication Lab and courses in biotechnology give students the opportunity to explore new ways of making that combine living systems with emerging technology. One exciting project involves the creation of “biocement” scaffolding, which could potentially help restore the oyster population of the Chesapeake Bay.

A student at MICA's annual UP/Start competition

  • MICA offers over 30 majors and minors, including a new Bachelor of Design (BDes) program in UX Design and Interior Design.
  • MICA offers over 1,000 courses each year providing programmatic depth and career options not found at other colleges and universities.
  • MICA administers nearly 20 study abroad programs—more than other art colleges in the United States.
  • MICA’s studio majors mirror the diversity of today’s contemporary art world. Painting, sculpture, photography, and other traditional mediums co-exist with interdisciplinary and multimedia approaches to art and critical thought.
  • The BFA degree is recognized as the professional degree for artists and designers. Students graduating with a MICA BFA enter the job market with 75 percent more credits in art courses than a student earning a BA degree in art from a multidisciplinary college or university.

A MICA student builds a wooden sculpture

MICA’s focused education in art and design prepares students to enter the creative economy of the future—a globally interconnected system of enterprise realized by technology and driven by the ability to synthesize ideas across disciplines, create, innovate, and disrupt. Our amazing array of offerings gives students opportunities to cross disciplines, combine programs of study, and chart an individualized course of study during their time at the College.

Because art begins with an idea, MICA’s carefully designed curriculum nurtures the critical balance between the artistic and the intellectual.


  • The College believes that the quality of the liberal arts program should equal that of the nationally recognized studio program—a value not found at all art and design colleges.
  • MICA’s art- and design-centered education also intersects with a range of disciplines, including technology, biotechnology, education, social justice, business and entrepreneurship, medicine, public health, engineering, and more, so that students are prepared to seize new opportunities in a number of fields.
  • Employers and graduate schools actively recruit MICA graduates for their creativity, ability to think critically, breadth of real-world experience, and exceptional artistic and technical skills.

 As noted in a December 2025 Forbes article on the evolving workforce, “The future of work will reward those who can interpret, rather than just analyze, and who can connect dots across disciplines to see the broader picture,” a capacity that MICA deliberately cultivates through the integration of rigorous studio practice and an equally strong liberal arts foundation.

MICA is a student-centered learning environment where respect for creativity and individualism is a highly held value. Personal attention is built into the DNA of the College. Our curricular and co-curricular programs are designed to develop the whole student— from their creative vision and intellectual capacity to the development of professional skills, confidence, and personal integrity.


  • MICA faculty are practicing professionals who provide students individual attention in small, mentoring-based classes. The student-to-faculty ratio is 9:1.
  • MICA’s community of 2,100+ students across undergraduate, graduate and non-degree programs is a universe where artists and designers are the rule and not the exception.

A professor works with MICA students in front of a laptop.

MICA attracts a uniquely creative and intelligent community of students from across the country and around the world. Diversity is valued. Talent and commitment to art are shared. Collaboration rather than competition motivates our students. Your student will work side by side with peers who are bright, curious, and passionate about their work. They understand, challenge, and inspire one another.

At MICA, campus life is inseparable from creative life. Our residential campus brings together living, learning, and making in a way that rivals top liberal arts colleges, with spaces intentionally designed to support artistic exploration, intellectual exchange, and personal growth. Here, students do more than attend classes, they inhabit a creative community shaped by distinctive architecture, purpose-built studios, and thoughtfully designed gathering spaces.


  • The 29-building, residential campus — located in a beautiful historic neighborhood creates a strong sense of place and community. It also offers extraordinary art and design facilities and the latest equipment and technology resources for professional-grade skill development.
  • Guided by a master plan, MICA has invested greatly in its campus and facilities — increasing and enhancing resident life facilities, added state-of-the-art academic classroom spaces, doubled its public galleries, added two innovative multi-use performance spaces and 73,000 square feet of student space for undergraduate and graduate students.
  • Unusual for an urban campus, MICA offers inspiring architecture, green spaces, and gathering places to share a meal or to participate in student activities.

A view of students walking down the step inside Main Building.

Baltimore is uniquely supportive of the arts and of artists, and is a renowned showcase for cutting-edge work in visual art, music, literary arts, film, theater, and performance. Students at MICA learn and create within a city that actively invests in cultural life and creative enterprise.

Major institutions such as the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Walters Art Museum, and the American Visionary Art Museum anchor a vibrant museum ecosystem that spans classical collections, contemporary practice, and visionary art. These institutions are not simply cultural amenities. They are part of students’ lived academic experience, offering exposure to curatorial practice, public programming, internships, and professional networks.


  • The New York Times names Baltimore as one of the 52 Places to Go in 2024, at #14.
  • A college town of 160,000 students, Baltimore has the neighborly feel of a town but the sophistication of a major city: a world-class symphony, opera, clubs, professional sports, dance, theater, museums, nightlife, arena concerts, and many other aspects.
  • Unlike other major metropolitan centers, Baltimore is an affordable city and one in which artists have a greater opportunity to develop an early exhibition history, start their own business, win any number of major financial prizes with which to kick-start their careers, afford great studio space, and expand internships into jobs. Students are able to secure studio space, build early exhibition histories, and test entrepreneurial ideas while still in school. They regularly sell work and engage directly with the public at venues such as the Baltimore Farmers' Market & Bazaar, the annual MICA ArtWalk, and the widely attended MICA Holiday Mart. These platforms allow students to gain real-world experience in pricing, presentation, marketing, and audience engagement, translating creative practice into tangible economic activity.
  • In 2022, Business Insider named Baltimore among the top 20 best cities to start a business.
  • Baltimore offers easy access to some of the country’s finest museums and galleries — in Washington, D.C. (About 40 miles/under 90 mins), New York City (just under 200 miles, between 2.5-3 hours), and Philadelphia (around 100 miles, a bit over 2 hours).
  • SMU DataArts ranks Maryland as the fifth most arts-vibrant state. In addition, Maryland ranks first in public support, taking into consideration its third-highest per capita State investment in the arts in the country, as well as federal and local investments.

An aerial view of Baltimore's Inner Harbor and skyline at night.Baltimore has the charm, sophistication, and amenities of a major city, but the neighborly feelof a town. In 2023, Architectural Digest included Baltimore as one of their top 23 Places to Travel.

Mindful of how each step of their education will contribute to the long-term success of our students, professional development is embedded in the curriculum, advising, career services, and real-world experiences that comprise a MICA education.


  • MICA’s Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Career Development empowers students and alumni to cultivate purposeful, sustainable careers through a comprehensive toolkit of professional development programs.
  • Services include individualized approaches, access to an online database of opportunities and employers, programs, class visits, appointments, and alumni support post-graduation.
  • MICA facilitates connections between students and leading figures in contemporary art and design including faculty, visiting artists, industry partners, and professionals encountered through projects, internships, and study abroad experiences.

 

 “MICA has uniquely supported my work. “The freedom to experiment, the encouragement to collaborate beyond the institution, and access to new technologies have allowed me to bridge scientific research with craft.” - Alexandra (Alex) Ozga ’26, ’27 (Ceramics BFA,MAT)

The front door of MICA’s Center for Career Development.

At MICA, we consider the satisfaction of our students, their parents, and our alumni to be an indicator of our success as an art and design college. What does it mean to be happy with your education? A number of factors can help you determine how MICA measures up:


  • 98 percent of undergraduate alumni from the class of 2024 reported they were employed one year after their graduation. Of those employed, 95 percent are working in a field related to their program of study.^
  • 82 percent of MICA freshmen return for their sophomore year, compared to the national average of 61 percent.*
  • MICA has a 71 percent graduation rate compared to the national average of 61 percent.^^
  • 85 percent of alumni report that they were satisfied or very satisfied with their MICA experience.
  • MICA administers more than $50 million each year in undergraduate financial aid from all sources. The scholarship and grant programs funded by MICA alone provide 95 percent of our full-time undergraduate students with over $31 million annually.
^ Graduates who responded to our 2024 survey.
* Fall 2024 first-time full-time freshmen returning to Fall 2025.
^^ Graduation rate within 150 percent, which counts students who graduate within 6 years.

 

“The school really takes care of you and introduces you to some of the most brilliant people that could really mentor you.”

Isolina Minjeong ’20 (Ceramics BFA) during the MICA Talks on-campus event held in February 2023.

 

As the longest-standing independent art and design school, MICA enters a third century as a global influential creative hub. This is where you will be part of a community of students, faculty, and alumni rewriting the rules of what art and design can do. This is where you’ll find everything you need—the mentors, the courses, the experiences, the facilities, the equipment, the city, and a lifelong community to turn your ideas into impact.

The world needs creatives who can make their ideas happen, and a MICA education will make you one of them.

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