FAQs + Facts

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Can students attend RISD part-time?
    No. All RISD degree programs require a commitment to full-time study. However, each year more than 4,000 people—from young children to elderly adults—enroll in Continuing Education courses at RISD. These classes generally meet in the evenings and on weekends, allowing students to learn from accomplished professionals in their fields and make use of RISD’s specialized facilities when degree program studios are not in session.
  • Do any RISD graduates choose to pursue careers outside the fields of art and design?
    Yes. There are many RISD alumni who choose to apply the critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills they learned at RISD to a wide range of other pursuits. In addition to starting their own businesses, RISD graduates have gone on to run schools and theaters; teach, work as policy analysts and research robotics; and become chefs, doctors, lawyers, therapists, accountants, politicians and pilots, among other professions.

  • Do most students complete their degrees at RISD?
    Although it varies a bit from year to year, on average, 95% of freshmen continue on at RISD and 90% complete their studies and receive a degree within six years. Also, it is more common to transfer to RISD from another college than it is to transfer out.
  • Does RISD offer study abroad options?
    Yes. RISD’s 50-year-old European Honors Program (EHP) is available for juniors and seniors who wish to study for a half year in Rome. A number of travel/study options are offered each year during Wintersession and students may also study in 22 different countries through RISD’s International Exchange Program.
  • If RISD is an art school, why is it called Rhode Island School of Design?
    RISD was founded during the 19th-century Industrial Revolution, when the textiles and jewelry manufacturing industries were beginning to take off in Providence. Since it was established in part to “apply the principles of Art to the requirements of trade and manufacture,” the prescient founders chose to incorporate the word “design” into the name of the school as a means of signaling its importance to economic development. But they also clearly stipulated that their educational experiment aimed both to teach students “the practice of Art, in order that they may understand its principles, give instruction to others, or become artists” and to educate the general public about the intrinsic value of the arts to society.
  • Is RISD a state college?
    No. Although half of our name derives from the name of the smallest state in the U.S.A., RISD is a private college with no official affiliation with the state’s public colleges and universities (Rhode Island College and the University of Rhode Island).

  • Is RISD a trade school?
    No, it’s not. While students graduate with a clear expertise in a specific field, RISD’s approach to education goes far beyond the purely practical training associated with trade schools. RISD offers an exceptional education in the fine art and design disciplines, complemented by a wide range of liberal arts courses. After completing the first-year Foundation Studies program, undergraduates choose a major field of study and graduate with a well-rounded education that emphasizes critical thinking and creative problem-solving. Completion of a studio major demands intense hands-on making and a high level of craftsmanship, but to ground studio work in a larger cultural context, students also complete a third of the credits required for graduation in such liberal arts areas as art history, visual culture, English, philosophy and the social sciences.
  • What are the costs of education at RISD?

    The cost of education is made up of direct costs (tuition, fees and room and board, depending on individual choices) and indirect costs (personal and travel expenses, books and supplies).  As such, the Cost of Education is meant to serve as an estimated cost to attend RISD.  Individual costs may vary.

    Estimated cost of education 2013-14
      Undergraduate Graduate
    Tuition     42,622 42,622
    Activity Fee    310 310
    Estimated Room  6,958 10,542
    Board  5,314 5,314
    Estimated Personal Expenses, Supplies and Travel    6,250 8,090
    Estimated Total Cost of Education   61,454 66,878


    For information about aid, visit RISD's Financial Aid site »

  • What is RISD’s connection to Brown University?
    RISD and Brown have adjacent campuses on College Hill and students at either institution may cross-register for classes at the other at no extra cost. RISD students typically turn to Brown for a broad array of foreign language and advanced science and math classes, all of which satisfy RISD’s liberal arts requirements. Students also have access to Brown’s extensive athletic facilities and can supplement activities available at RISD by attending concerts, lectures, theatrical performances and the like. In addition, the Brown-RISD Dual Degree Program enables highly motivated undergrads to earn a BFA from RISD and an AB from Brown in five years.
  • What percentage of your graduates find jobs in creative fields?
    Based on an annual survey conducted by RISD’s Career Center, 96% of alumni are employed one year after graduation. An additional two percent are enrolled in a full-time educational program to pursue an advanced degree. Of the employed alumni, approximately 70% are employed in positions directly related to their major and 25 percent are employed in positions indirectly related to their major. Statistics in this annual survey tend to be similar from year to year.
  • What type of degrees does RISD offer?
    RISD offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 19 majors. The most common undergraduate degree is a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (BFA), which generally requires four years of full-time study, while most graduate students earn Master of Fine Art degrees in two years (though some programs vary in length from 1+ to 3 years). RISD also offers a five-year professional baccalaureate degree, the Bachelor of Architecture, which is a qualifying degree for a license in the field of architecture.
Facts + Figures

Type of college:
private, co-educational, four-year art school
# of undergraduate degree programs: 16
# of graduate degree programs: 16

Costs (2013-14 figures):
tuition: $42,622 (full-time degree candidates, graduate and undergraduate)
student activities fee: $310
housing: $6,958 (double room)
dining: $5,314 (19+ meal plan)
supplies: $2,781 (estimated)

Location:
Providence, Rhode Island, USA

Year founded: 1877

Demographics 
(Fall 2012 figures):
undergraduate students: 1,971
graduate students: 415
total enrollment: 2,386
gender (m/f): 35%/65%
ethnicity: 26.1% of color
international: 23.5% (from 55 countries)

Faculty (Fall 2012):
full-time: 147
part-time: 381
student/faculty ratio: 8.7:1

Average Class Size (Fall 2012):
undergraduate: 17
graduate: 12

Applicants Accepted (Fall 2012):
25.4% freshman
25.8% transfer
22.4% graduate

Average SAT Scores (Fall 2012):
629 math | 621 critical reading | 628 writing

Student Retention Rate 
(5-year average):
95% (freshman to sophomore)

Student Graduation Rate 
(5-year average):
87% graduate (within six years of enrollment)

Alumni: 21,608 (mailable)

Most Popular Majors:
Illustration, Industrial Design, Architecture, Graphic Design

Endowment (2011-12): $285.7 million

Annual Operating Budget (2012-2013): $142.9 million

Accreditation:
New England Association of Schools & Colleges
National Association of Schools of Art & Desigh (NASAD)
Landscape Architecture Accrediting Board (LAAB) of the American Society of Landscape Architects
National Architectural Accrediting Board
The Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

For more information:  

Download the 2013 RISD Fact Book »
Download the 2012 RISD Fact Book »
Download the 2011 RISD Fact Book » 
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The façade of the Chace Center, a new multipurpose hub that opened
in 2008, offers an interesting contrast to the historic campus
buildings that surround it.