A Mostly Online Art & Design Master's Degree

Admission Requirements

• Possess (or be in the process of finishing) a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university, or a comparable degree from a foreign institution.

• Have a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or better (on a 4.00 point scale) for the most recent degree earned or current degree in progress.

  If you are still completing your bachelor's degree at the time you apply, admission will be based on your current cumulative GPA, and you will need to re-submit your official transcript (showing your conferred degree and final GPA) during your first semester. If your final GPA fell below 3.00, you will be given additional requirements as defined by the academic program that must be met within one calendar year to remain enrolled at UNC.

  If you have completed a master's degree, or at least 18 credit hours towards a master's degree, the GPA of your master's work will be used.

• An undergraduate degree in art, art education or the equivalent. An applicant who does not have an undergraduate major in art, art education or its equivalent may be required to complete specified coursework or demonstrate competency in specific areas of study before beginning the program.

• Note for those seeking to meet credential requirements for teaching dual enrollment/undergraduate Art courses: if you choose the Art Studio Graduate certificate, you will need to hold a master’s degree in addition to the certificate. If you do not hold a master's degree, you should choose the MA degree instead.

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Eligibility by State

At this time, UNC can provide distance education to students from every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. UNC cannot provide distance education in American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau.

Certain distance education activities that occur outside of Colorado may have additional state approval processes or requirements. This most commonly occurs for experiential learning placement activities such as practica, internships, student teaching, and healthcare clinicals. Please review the State Authorization (SARA) page for additional information on UNC’s ability to offer distance education across state lines and a list of activities and states where approval may be required. For additional information or questions, please contact jake.henderson@unco.edu.

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International Student Eligibility

International students residing outside of the United States are eligible to apply to our online programs. Applicants for online programs must demonstrate English proficiency, or enroll in the UNC Intensive English Program, in order to be considered.

This program requires occasional visits to the United States. You will need to submit financial documentation before you plan to arrive in the U.S. (and again each time you travel to the U.S.). The financial documentation needs to demonstrate that you can pay for the cost of tuition and living expenses for the days that you will be in the U.S.

Please visit the International Students Admission Requirements page for details about English proficiency requirements, financial documentation and applying as an international student.

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Transferring Credit

Master's Program Transfer Credit Policy

UNC graduate school accepts applicable graduate credit with a grade of C or higher from accredited institutions. Please note that if your chosen program has a higher grade minimum for any program coursework, that minimum would apply to transfer requests for those courses. Graduate program faculty are responsible for reviewing any proposed transfer credit to ensure that course content and objectives match program content.

• Students must complete at least 50% of their graduate program credits at UNC, not including research, capstone, seminar, internship/externship/practicum, thesis, dissertation proposal, dissertation and any credits graded with S/U (P/F).
• Courses requested for transfer must not be more than five years old for master's degree credit, and cannot have been used to fulfill requirements for a previously awarded degree. See the full Graduate Transfer Credit Policy.

Certificate Program Transfer Credit Policy

Our graduate certificate programs feature highly specialized learning outcomes determined by our expert faculty. Therefore, to ensure that certificate graduates attain this specialized knowledge, students will need to complete all certificate coursework directly from this UNC program.

Tuition

This is an Extended Campus program, which means:

• We charge a flat per-credit tuition rate for all students (in-state or out-of-state).
• There are no added student fees or technology fees. However, certain courses may carry specific course fees to support additional services and materials.

Program tuition for the 2024-25 academic year (which runs Fall, Spring, and Summer terms) is $636 per credit hour. Tuition for the 2025-26 academic year will be determined mid-June 2025.

Estimates of additional costs: For the purposes of determining financial aid, UNC follows Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) and federal guidelines to develop an estimated, average Cost of Attendance (budget) for different student classifications. For your personal tuition estimates, we recommend using the program-specific tuition information above. But UNC's official Cost of Attendance/Student Budgets page can help you identify other estimated expenses for which you may be responsible while completing your program.

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Financial Aid

Scholarship Opportunity for Students Pursuing Dual/Concurrent Enrollment Teaching Eligibility

If you are a K-12 educator in a rural Colorado school district, you may be eligible to receive the Concurrent Enrollment Educator Qualification Scholarship for this program! This initiative is designed to help rural high school teachers become eligible to provide concurrent/dual enrollment college coursework for their rural students, which will better prepare those students for collegiate success. 

Federal Financial Aid

Master's Students

Degree-seeking students who cannot pay for tuition alone are encouraged to apply for federal financial aid. Students must first complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The UNC FAFSA/financial aid page for graduate students has key dates and support, including the release date and deadline for each academic year (a Fall-Spring-Summer cycle which begins each August).

Late submissions of the FAFSA are still accepted throughout the school year but you may not be considered for the maximum amount of aid. If the priority deadline has passed for the upcoming/current school year, we encourage you to apply for FAFSA consideration as soon as you enroll for your first courses. Depending on the time of year, you may be able to submit an application for the current academic year and an early/priority application for the following academic year.

Master's degree students must be enrolled in a minimum of 5 credits per academic term for financial aid eligibility. Full time enrollment is based on 9 credits per term.

To apply for federal financial aid assistance

Fill out the FAFSA form at https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa

Certificate-Only Students

Certificate program students (non-degree seeking) are not eligible for aid through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Your program coordinator may be aware of your eligibility for any discipline or campus-based aid if available.

All Students

For more specific help, contact the Office of Financial Aid: ofa@unco.edu, 970-351-4862 or via the UNC Financial Aid website.

Students can also find helpful information such as the Guide to Federal Student Aid at https://studentaid.gov/resources. Most of the resources are available in English, Spanish and Braille.

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Student Health Insurance (for Master's Degree Students Only)

The University of Northern Colorado offers a Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) to all degree-seeking students who enroll in courses on our main UNC Campus, an Extended Campus Center, or Online.

Degree-seeking graduate students enrolled in 6 or more credit hours will automatically receive this benefit each term. SHIP premiums will appear on your semester bill. If you have comparable insurance coverage, and do not want to be charged for SHIP coverage, you must opt out of this plan each Fall via an online waiver process.

Please visit the UNC Student Health Insurance pages for more information about the insurance plan.