Bachelor of Art at Colorado State University

Colorado State University

United States of America, Fort Collins

University Rank:#458

The Art at Colorado State University is a Bachelor program designed for students who want to build the knowledge and skills required for careers in this field. Delivered on campus at the university's main campus in Fort Collins , United States of America, the program is taught in English and takes 4 years to complete. Students study in a Full Time environment while preparing for future professional opportunities. The next intake starts on August 21, 2027.

About Bachelor of Art

The Major in Art, B.A. (Bachelor of Arts) is a liberal arts degree with two concentrations: Art History and Integrated Visual Studies. Both concentrations begin their study with the Foundations program. First-year students complete Foundations courses in studio art and global art history.

The Art History concentration seeks to develop students' critical and analytical skills and ability to comprehend global visual arts within social, historical, cultural, and aesthetic frameworks. Students develop an understanding about the visual and material culture of societies from around the world. Our Art History program champions a global history of art, offering courses that range from the Italian Renaissance to contemporary African art, women in art, and native North American art. Students in art history go on to careers in academia, museums, historical societies, and auction houses, and can apply their skills in visual literacy and analytical research to a wide range of careers.

The Integrated Visual Studies concentration is an ideal program for students to develop skills as makers and thinkers. By making work and interpreting images from visual art, photography, film, television, and commercial imagery, students learn to analyze visual communication from a variety of aesthetic, theoretical, scientific, economic, sociological and historical viewpoints. Students take a relatively equal ratio of studio and academic classes that foster critical awareness of how society is reflected and produced through visual means in the 21st century. Integrated Visual Studies students have the curricular flexibility to pursue interdisciplinary academic interests in combination with explorations in the theoretical and technical aspects of art making within a studio practice.

Student Learning Outcomes

Art History students will demonstrate:

Knowledge of the tools and techniques of art historical research and scholarship.
Communication skills, original thinking, art historical interpretation, and research skills in written form, resulting in a work of original scholarship.
Communication skills, original thinking, art historical interpretation, and research skills in oral form.
General knowledge of the monuments and principal artists of global art, including a broad understanding of historical monuments as well as the art of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Adequate mastery of a foreign language to support research through the reading of primary source materials.
Functional knowledge of the creative process.

Integrated Visual Studies students will demonstrate:

Communication skills in written and oral form with precision, cogency, and rhetorical force.
The ability to explain and defend their creative work and research effectively and rationally, and the ability to advocate for their world view.
Skills of invention and innovation–developing things and ideas that never existed before.

Art History students will demonstrate:

Knowledge of the tools and techniques of art historical research and scholarship.
Communication skills, original thinking, art historical interpretation, and research skills in written form, resulting in a work of original scholarship.
Communication skills, original thinking, art historical interpretation, and research skills in oral form.
General knowledge of the monuments and principal artists of global art, including a broad understanding of historical monuments as well as the art of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Adequate mastery of a foreign language to support research through the reading of primary source materials.
Functional knowledge of the creative process.

Integrated Visual Studies students will demonstrate:

Communication skills in written and oral form with precision, cogency, and rhetorical force.
The ability to explain and defend their creative work and research effectively and rationally, and the ability to advocate for their world view.
Skills of invention and innovation–developing things and ideas that never existed before.

Disciplines

Art and Art History

Requirements and Admission Criteria for Bachelor of Art at Colorado State University

Entry Requirements

Personal Statement

What we call a “personal statement” is called the “personal essay” in the Common Application. This short writing piece is your opportunity to help us understand what makes you unique, to share a talent or element of your identity that’s important to you, to describe what you are passionate about, or to highlight an accomplishment you’re proud of.

Transcripts

Submit your most recent transcripts or mark sheets. We will ask for additional materials if necessary.
All decisions are provisional until a final, official transcript verifying graduation is received.
Only transcripts sent directly from the school or stamped and sealed are considered official.
If a record is not in English, a certified literal English translation must accompany the transcript.

If you need a student visa, you must submit the following items in order to secure an I-20 or DS-2019:

Immigration Information Form
Copy of the identification page of your passport which must be valid for at least six months beyond the first day of classes.
Financial support documents demonstrating the ability to meet or exceed your estimated expenses. Because none of our institutional scholarships cover the full cost of attendance, you must be able to show outside funding.

Immigration information is not considered in the admission decision.

English Requirements

IELTSMin 6
TOEFLMin 72

Career Opportunities after Completing Bachelor of Art

Students earning a B.A. with a major in Art develop a wide range of transferable communication, analytical, and critical-thinking skills. Participation in internships, cooperative education, service learning, and education abroad opportunities is highly recommended to enhance practical training and development. Depending on student interests, electives taken, or concentration selected, available career choices include academia, art museums, auction houses, historical societies, art appraiser, art director, exhibition designer, art critic, gallery director, art librarian, art restorer, art conservator, and art museum educator. Employers appreciate art majors for their multiple skills and the visual literacy that allows them to make sense of an image-saturated world.

Tuition and Fee Information for Bachelor of Art at Colorado State University

Application Fee 50

How to Apply for Bachelor of Art at Colorado State University

Application Materials

All applicants for admission must submit an online application, $50 application fee or fee waiver request, and academic transcripts. Freshman/first-year applicants are required to submit a personal statement. The application includes an optional Academic Explanation section for applicants to provide more context for their performance and/or enrollment history. Recommendations and ACT/SAT scores are not required. The Office of Admissions may request additional information before completing a full review of an applicant’s application file.

Refer to the appropriate application guides for details.

Application Fee or Fee Waiver

An application fee is required as part of a complete application; a decision cannot be rendered without it. If payment of the application fee presents a financial hardship, applicants can request a fee waiver.

Refer to the Office of Admissions website for the application fee refund policy.

High School Transcript and proof of graduation (or equivalent)

High school performance, as reflected on a student's transcript(s), is an essential component of the admission decision for all freshman/first-year applicants and for transfer applicants with fewer than 30 post-high school credits.

High school transcripts for transfer applicants with more than 30 post-high school credits are considered only when needed to satisfy the admission requirement in mathematics.

All freshman/first year applicants and all transfers with fewer than 60 post-high school college credits must submit proof of high school graduation or equivalent prior to the start of their first semester of enrollment.

ACT/SAT results

ACT or SAT test scores are not required. Our review process is individualized, includes a range of academic and personal factors and emphasizes students’ efforts and achievement demonstrated over 3-4 years. Test scores are not given much weight in the admission decision and are not considered at all for scholarships. Students who wish to have their scores considered in the admission decision should email [email protected] with this request.

ACT or SAT results can be used for composition placement purposes and thus can be helpful to submit by any incoming student before orientation/registration.

College Transcript(s)

Freshman/first-year applicants typically are required to submit an official college transcript at the point of application only if college enrollment is being used as their full-time high school curriculum (such as early college, ASCENT and fifth-year programs, and some homeschool curricula). Refer to College-Level Courses Completed by High School Students for additional information.

Transfer applicants must submit an official college transcript from each college attended, regardless of the type of institution, amount or type of credit earned, and age of the credential, even if the work will be reflected in transfer on another transcript. No part of the previous collegiate record may be disregarded. Failure to include all institutions previously attended may result in the rescinding of admission, loss of credit, or disenrollment. Transcripts reflecting courses taken at vocational-technical institutes or colleges that are not regionally accredited can be helpful documentation and may be required, though they do not qualify an applicant for transfer applicant status or advanced-standing credit.

Second Bachelor applicants are only required to submit an official transcript from the college/university from which they earned their first (or most recent) bachelor's degree. Official transcripts from other colleges/universities attended (if applicable) are encouraged if an applicant is seeking a competitive major or to demonstrate explicit pre-requisites for their new degree program.

Advanced standing credit (transfer credit) is only awarded from an official transcript.

International Applicants: Additional Requirements

In addition to the documents outlined above, applicants who have completed part or all of their education outside of the US also may be prompted to submit the following:

A certified English translation of any academic credentials not in English
Evidence of English Proficiency to be considered for direct admission
An Immigration Information Form, financial support documentation and a copy of the passport identification page for immigration documentation

Application Timelines

Students can begin their enrollment during fall semester (August start), spring semester (January start) or summer term (May/June start; not recommended for freshman/first-year students).

Applicants are encouraged to apply 6-12 months prior to the start of the term. Freshman/first-year applicants must have completed at least 75% of their high school curriculum (through junior year equivalent) before a decision can be rendered; transfer applicants must have no more than one academic term in progress when a decision is rendered. Second bachelor’s/post-bachelor candidates must be finished with their first degree or in their final term of enrollment with degree pending for a decision to be rendered.

Refer to the appropriate application guides for more detail about application dates and timelines.

Bachelor of Art at Colorado State University

Colorado State University

United States of America, Fort Collins