About RISD

students walking on the sidewalk in front of the red brick Waterman Building on RISD’s campus

RISD is a college and museum founded in 1877 in Providence, RI. Today 2,518 students from 57 countries engage in 44 full-time bachelor’s and master’s degree programs, supported by a committed faculty and worldwide network of more than 33,000 alumni.

By cultivating expansive and elastic thinking, RISD equips artists, designers and scholars to generate and challenge the ideas that shape our world.

Student-to-faculty ratio

8:1

Average class size

15

Undergraduate students (2024–25)

2,084

Graduate students (2024–25)

434

Domestic students of color (undergraduate, 2024–25)

44%

International students (undergraduate, 2024–25)

33%

Retention Rate

95%

Graduation Rate

89%

Our history

Started by a group of women well before any woman had the right to vote in the US, RISD has always embraced art and design’s capacity to stoke curiosity and spur progress.

historical black and white image of people sketching at easels

Learn more about our history

Strategic plan

How can RISD’s unique approach to learning, thinking and making evolve in the 21st century? Our strategic plan outlines the ways our current creative practices respond to the most critical social, political and environmental challenges we face today.