About

Rhode Island School of Design is a private, nonprofit college founded in Providence, RI in 1877. It is one of the first art and design schools in the US. About 2,500 students from around the world engage in liberal arts studies and rigorous, studio-based learning at RISD (pronounced “RIZ-dee”), where they earn bachelor’s or master’s degrees in 22 majors. Each year more than 5,800 children and adults also participate in RISD Continuing Education courses.
Student body
- 2,621
-
total enrollment (2022–23)
- 2,109
-
undergraduate students (2022–23)
- 512
-
graduate students (2022–23)
- 38%
-
domestic students of color (2020/21)
- 36%
-
international (2020/21)
Faculty
- 600+
-
full- and part-time (2021/22)
Student-to-faculty ratio
- 9:1
-
2021/22
Average SAT scores
- 688
-
math (entering first-year students fall 2020)
- 655
-
evidence-based reading and writing (entering first-year students fall 2020)
Acceptance rates
- 20%
-
first-year (2020/21)
- 22%
-
transfer (2020/21)
- 33%
-
graduate (2020/21)
Retention rate
- 95%
-
first-year 2020 to sophomore 2021
Graduation rate
- 89%
-
graduating students (first-year undergraduate) 2013–19
Alumni
- 31,000+
-
alumni
Financial information
- $56,435
-
2022/23 tuition and fees
- $442.9 m
-
fiscal year 2021 endowment
- $161 m
-
2021/22 operating budget
Undergraduate study
First-year program
Liberal Arts departments
Graduate study
Degree programs
- Architecture
- Ceramics
- Design Engineering
- Digital + Media
- Furniture Design
- Glass
- Global Arts and Cultures
- Graphic Design
- Illustration
- Industrial Design
- Interior Architecture
- Jewelry + Metalsmithing
- Landscape Architecture
- Nature–Culture–Sustainability Studies
- Painting
- Photography
- Printmaking
- Sculpture
- Teaching + Learning in Art + Design
- Textiles