About

The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Dance is a 60-credit hour program designed to take 3 years (6 semesters) to complete. Students generally take 10 credit hours per semester, leaving sufficient time for extracurricular creative and research work.

The MFA program is designed to accommodate a variety of students, ranging from the practicing professional to the recent BA/BFA graduate. The MFA will develop students' creative, performance, and scholarly work. It will position them for teaching careers in higher education as well as a variety of other careers in the field of dance.

MFA candidates are required to choose at least one secondary area of study designed to give variety and dimension to the student's training. The university setting is particularly well-suited to broad educational goals, given the wide variety of subjects available for involvement.

We encourage the pursuit of one's choreographic voice, embodied scholarship, and pedagogical refinement. Our program scaffolds entrepreneurial approaches to art-making based in rigor, curiosity, and versatility. Through our diverse, "choose-your-own adventure" style curriculum, we support the vital cultivation of self-awareness alongside a nuanced appreciation of one's positionality within a global conversation.

Disciplines

Arts & Sciences

Requirements

Entry Requirements

Tertiary School Credential Required¹	Grade Standard	Grading Scale
Bachelor’s Degree	B; 70	A-F; 0-100

English Requirements

IELTSMin 6.5
TOEFLMin 75

Fee Information

Application Fee 80

How to Apply

While you may complete your online application in multiple sessions, we recommend that you gather as much of these materials as possible prior to beginning your application.

Personal Statement

Prepare your "Personal Statement" as a .doc or .pdf file, and upload it with your application. Questions may vary by department and are available within the application.

Basic Information

The application asks for such basic information as:

Your full legal name, as it appears on your birth certificate or passport
Home address and contact information
Visa Information
Post-secondary education
Applicable honors, awards, and affiliations
Resume
Other pertinent background information

Unofficial Transcripts

For review and decision purposes you are required to upload an unofficial copy of your transcript(s) in the application. We require one copy of the scanned transcript from each undergraduate and graduate institution that you attended. Include any transcripts, mark sheets, or grade reports, and any certificates, degrees, diplomas, or statements of graduation or completion from each college or university attended, regardless of the length of attendance, whether or not courses were completed, and whether or not you believe the record will affect your admission or transfer of credit.

If you are currently enrolled, send all available records at this time, including courses in progress. Final records are required upon completion of the course work or program. All records should be submitted in the native language, and credentials written in languages other than English must also be accompanied by a literal, certified English translation. Only after you are recommended for admission and you confirm your intent to enroll will you need to provide official transcripts.

Instructions for Uploading Unofficial Transcripts to Your Application

GRE Test Scores

The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is required for admission to many graduate departments and is considered valuable for all others. Please check department pages to determine specific test requirements. The GRE college code for CU Boulder is 4841. Direct any inquiries regarding these examinations to the department in which you intend to study. If you are applying to the Business PhD, you are required to present scores from the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT). The GMAT college code for CU Boulder is 4841. The Ministry of Education, the American Cultural Center, or educational institutions in your home country are sources for this testing information as well.

Official Test Scores on TOEFL, IELTS or Duolingo

Although some departments might be able to offer admission prior to receiving your English proficiency results, it is not possible to issue the necessary immigration documents until we have this proof of English proficiency. CU Boulder accepts only TOEFL and/or IELTS scores as proof of English proficiency. Completion of an English language program does not satisfy this requirement. For more information on the TOEFL, go to www.toefl.org. For more information on the IELTS, go to www.ielts.org.

For 2023 admissions: We will be accepting the online version of TOEFL offered by ETS through Proctor U. We will accept English language proficiency demonstrated through Duolingo. A minimum score of 120 (on the 160 point scale) is required by the Graduate School, though individual graduate departments or programs may have higher requirements. To report your official DuoLingo scores, please click ‘Send Results’ from inside the application, and then choose, ‘University of Colorado Boulder – graduate.’

The CU Boulder college code for the TOEFL is 4841.

All IELTS test centers worldwide are able to send scores electronically to our institution. You must provide the following information to your IELTS test center when requesting your scores (IELTS does not use school codes):

University of Colorado Boulder - Masters & PhD
3100 Marine Street
Suite A122, UCB 65
Boulder, CO 80303

Letters of Recommendation

Each program requires letters of recommendation but vary in the number. Review the prospective students page of the program to which you are applying to find the required number. You will be asked to supply the names of your recommenders as well as their email addresses within the application.

Nonrefundable $80 Application Fee

The application fee can be paid online via credit card when you submit your application.