The application for Fall 2027 admission is available from September 14, 2026 to January 15, 2027. The required materials for the application are discussed in detail below.
Please note: All applicants to the MFA program must have a Bachelor’s degree. Applicants are considered for Fall semester admission only.
With the exception of official transcripts and TOEFL scores, all application materials and portfolios must be submitted through SlideRoom. You will need to submit the following materials in your application:
- Completed application form
- Completed portfolio/creative work submission
- Professional resume
- Official transcripts of all college work
- Artist’s Statement (max 500 words)
- Statement of Interest (max 500 words)
- 3 letters of reference (from professionals who can speak to your work)
- TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo scores (All non-native speakers of English must submit TOEFL or IELTS language assessment scores, regardless of previous U.S. study)
- $68 application fee (non-refundable)*
The Portfolio
The portfolio is the most critical component of the application. Applicants need to submit 10-25 slides of their work.
Please note: SlideRoom only accepts images (up to 10MB each), video (up to 500MB each), audio (up to 60MB each) and PDFs (up to 20MB each).
Students may also submit slides that demonstrate their interactive work: Document interactive software projects with screen-captured demonstration videos, ideally with narration. Please keep documentation under 3 minutes in length, and under 500MB. Let us know which programming languages you used.
Statement of Interest (max 500 words)
The Statement of Interest details why you want to attend this particular program and how you see the program furthering your artistic practice.
The Artist Statement (500 words)
The Artist Statement should lay out your working process and critical influences while contextualizing your work in relationship to contemporary artistic, social, and cultural practices.
Official Transcripts
All applicants are required to send official college transcripts in order to be considered for admission to the MFA program.
You may initially upload PDF document copies of your undergraduate university/college transcripts when submitting your application. If you have attended more than one institution of higher education, please merge all transcripts into a single PDF document for upload.
If your application moves into the interview round, you will then be asked to provide official transcripts that must match the copies of your transcripts on record. We prefer transcripts be sent electronically to our Admissions office: (MFAadmissions@andrew.cmu.edu). If this is not possible, transcripts may be sent by mail to the following address:
Carnegie Mellon University
School of Art Graduate Admissions
College of Fine Arts 300
5000 Forbes Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Non-Native Speakers of English
All applicants who are non-native speakers of English are required to take the TOEFL, Duolingo, or the IELTS examination regardless of previous U.S. study.
Please note: The minimum acceptable scores are below.
TOEFL:
- For exams taken before Jan.21, 2026: We require at least a 102 overall score and give consideration to those with sub scores of 25 and above in each section.
- For exams taken on or after Jan. 21, 2026: We require at least a 5 in the overall score and give consideration to those with sub scores of 5 and above in each section.
- Carnegie Mellon’s TOEFL Code is 2074.
IELTS:
- We require at least a 7.5 overall band score on either the paper-based or computer-delivered Academic examination and give consideration to those with sub scores of 7.5 and above.
Duolingo:
- 135 overall score.
Students can mail transcripts and language test scores to:
Carnegie Mellon University
School of Art Graduate Admissions
College of Fine Arts 300
5000 Forbes Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Or email to mfaadmissions@andrew.cmu.edu
Candidates should provide English translations for any transcripts that are not in English.
Please note: All application materials and portfolios must be submitted through SlideRoom. Graduate Record Examination scores (GRE) are not required.