Get a head start on everything.
FYE: Fast Forward is a four-week residential program for incoming MICA students. Earn 3 credits, build your community, and arrive in the fall already knowing the city and each other.
Payment deadline: June 8, 2026
FYE: Fast Forward
FYE: Fast Forward
4
4 weeks
on campus in Baltimore
on campus in Baltimore
3
3 FYE credits
earned before fall
earned before fall
7/19
Move in July 19 —
program runs July 20–August 16
program runs July 20–August 16
FYE: Fast Forward gives you the chance to begin your MICA education before the fall semester starts. You'll complete one required First Year Experience course, meet students from across every major, and settle into Baltimore — your campus, your city — before the larger class arrives. It's college, a month early. With a smaller group, more access to your instructor, and a full calendar of experiences built around becoming a MICA student.
A head start on your first year.
Get ahead academically
Complete one of your required FYE courses before fall begins. That means one fewer required course on your fall schedule, and room to add an additional studio elective in your first semester.
Choose your classes on your terms
Elective registration for fall is first-come, first-served. Students who complete Fast Forward register with their FYE credit already earned, giving advising more flexibility to build your ideal schedule.
Meet your people early
All students live in the same residence hall for the full four weeks. You'll build friendships before the rest of the incoming class arrives.
Learn the city
Baltimore is your campus. By the time fall starts, you'll have eaten in Federal Hill and Little Italy, visited the American Visionary Art Museum, hiked and tubed on the Gunpowder River, and explored neighborhoods most students don't discover until sophomore year.
Build foundational skills
Daily workshops on budgeting, time management, wellness, and navigating a new city. Practical, honest, and designed for artists and designers starting something new.
Smaller classes. More access.
MICA's faculty-to-student ratio is already low. Fast Forward sections cap at 12 students.
One course. Three options.
You rank your preferences — advising places you.
You'll complete one required FYE studio or academic course during Fast Forward. When you submit your interest form, you'll rank all three options in order of preference. Advising will place you based on your ranking and available space.
FF 160 // Drawing Fundamentals
Explore drawing as a tool for observation, expression, and design — from traditional mark-making and perspective to mixed media, digital drawing, and conceptual inquiry. A foundation course that every MICA student takes, experienced in a small cohort with intensive studio time.
FF 140 // New Media 4D
Develop digital fluency across data literacy, lens-based media, and time-based production — mapping, video, animation, audio, and motion graphics. Learn to create multimedia art and design work for digital and physical outputs with a critical, ethical framework.
HMST 101 // Ways of Writing
An introduction to college-level reading and writing organized around critical thinking, genre, and attribution. Students read across forms — scholarship, fiction, journalism, memoir — and develop their own writing through exploration, revision, and feedback.
A full four weeks. Every day counts.
The program is structured around three components that run concurrently throughout all four weeks.
Monday – Friday, 10am – 4pm
Morning and afternoon sessions with your instructor and a class of 12. 90 hours of instruction across the four weeks, with independent studio time on Sundays.
Daily workshops, 4–5pm
Afternoon sessions focused on the practical realities of starting college: budgeting for art supplies and managing your finances, navigating Baltimore transit and city life, building relationships with mentors and faculty, managing studio deadlines alongside academic work, and taking care of yourself. These aren't orientation sessions. They're tools.
Baltimore Roots & Nature + Resilience
Two alternating weekend tracks over four weeks:
- Baltimore Roots — Urban garden tour, guided mural walk, dinner in Little Italy, visit to the American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM), lunch in Federal Hill.
- Nature & Resilience — Hiking and tubing at Gunpowder Falls State Park, plein air studio session at Carrie Murray Nature Center.
Sundays include dedicated studio time and relaxed group outings to Hampden, Canton, and Mount Washington.
5–8pm
Twice-weekly Dinner & Dialogue sessions — facilitated evening meals in the dining hall with structured conversation. Optional evening activities throughout the week: craft nights, movie nights, games, and social time in the residence hall.
What FYE: Fast Forward costs
Payment in full, or a payment plan, must be in place by June 8, 2026.
A payment plan option is available. Contact academicadvising@mica.edu for details.
Important note: FYE: Fast Forward is self-funded. Institutional financial aid is not available for this program.
Tuition & Room
Tuition: $2,160
Room (residence hall, all 4 weeks): $1,000
Total before meal plan: $3,160
Meal Plan Options: choose one at registration
3 meals/day, 7 days/week: $1,120
3 meals/day, 5 days/week: $800
2 meals/day, 7 days/week: $700
2 meals/day, 5 days/week: $500
Estimated total: $3,660 – $4,280, depending on meal plan selection
What's included: Tuition, room, your chosen meal plan, laundry access, and all organized weekend and evening program activities.
What's not included: Weekend meals outside the dining hall, personal art supplies, laundry coins, local transportation, and personal expenses. Plan for these as you would for any month of college.
Ready to fast forward?
- Complete the FYE: Fast Forward interest form [link in development]
- Rank your four course preferences. Advising will place you based on availability
- Complete payment in full or set up a payment plan by June 8, 2026
- Submit required health documentation and receive your MICA ID by [DATE TBD]
- Move in on July 19 and start class on July 20
Questions: Contact the Academic Advising team at academicadvising@mica.edu
FYE: Fast Forward is a program of MICA's First Year Experience. Participation does not affect a student's fall enrollment status or financial aid eligibility for the fall semester.