Curriculum

The Bachelor of Fine Arts degree is awarded for completion of 120 credits as designated by the program. A maximum of 60 credits may be transferred from another institution. Students must maintain a 2.0 cumulative GPA and fulfill all requirements in a timely manner.

Your BFA begins with Parsons’ first-year curriculum, which serves as the first-year course of study for all undergraduate programs at Parsons. The first year immerses you in an exploration of art and design concepts, skills, and critical practices, training students to become flexible thinkers, proficient makers, and lifelong learners. 

Starting in your second year, you combine core communication design studios with electives on related topics like environmental graphics, design for social engagement, business, and media studies. Throughout your studies, art and design history and theory courses develop essential research, writing, and critical reasoning skills as well as the conceptual foundations for creative inquiry.

Parsons’ position within a major university — The New School — informs our interdisciplinary approach to scholarship and practice. University electives broaden your skills and perspectives with a wide range of liberal arts courses in the humanities, the social sciences, media studies, and business.

To view degree requirements from prior years, visit the Academic Catalogs archive. For a complete listing of courses and course descriptions, visit the university course catalog.

Objects as History and Sustainable Systems can be taken in either sequence, one in the fall semester and one in the spring.

The three first-year studio courses — Drawing/Imaging, Space/Materiality, and Time — can be taken in any sequence, two in the fall semester and one in the spring.

BA/BFA students completing a BFA in Communication Design: Please speak to your advisor to see how your course requirements are spread across your five years at The New School.