Why Pursue a Bachelor's Degree in Art
UTSA students seeking an Art degree choose between two distinct National Association of Schools of Art and Design accredited studio art degrees. Whether you aspire to become a professional artist, fine arts educator, performer or scholar, a studio art degree from UTSA serves as the perfect opportunity to enhance your creative and contemporary pursuits under a close mentorship. The Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) includes intensive studio coursework along with supportive studies in art history and criticism. The Bachelor of Arts (BA) focuses on foundation study, specializations in studio art practices, and a broad foundation in art history.
UTSA + SSA
Southwest School of Art (SSA) is joining with the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) to create a new school that will be a national model for advancing arts education. The combined strengths of the BFA academic programs are remarkably complementary and together, will provide students the opportunity to re-imagine their bold future with a fine arts degree. As a BFA student, you will benefit from the collective expertise of SSA and UTSA faculty and have access to state-of-the-art facilities, spacious studios and galleries at both the SSA Campus and UTSA Main Campus. The combined, studio-intensive BFA program will give you the opportunity to unleash your creative potential in a learning environment that will inspire and challenge you.
Art Specializations
In the final two years of this program, students will choose a specialized area from one of the following:
Admission Requirements
When you apply to UTSA, you select the major you'd like to study. The choice of major will not impact if you get admitted to the University (all students must meet UTSA's general admission requirements); however, some majors will require additional admission requirements to be able to declare the major your freshman year.
| Art: There are no additional admission requirements to declare this major. You must meet UTSA’s general admission requirements. |
Scholarships
Pro Tip: Even if you don't think you will qualify for financial aid, you should still submit the FAFSA! Information from the FAFSA could impact certain scholarships that are even merit-based.
UTSA Scholarship Hub
Through one general scholarship application, you can automatically be considered for dozens of scholarships at UTSA, including scholarships that are available for this major. In order to access all available scholarship applications on the UTSA Scholarship Hub, you must be an admitted student. If you are a student applying for admission, but have not yet been admitted, you may sign in and complete the Scholarship Hub’s General Application as long as you have authenticated your myUTSA ID and Passphrase. Once you are admitted to UTSA, please sign back in to the Scholarship Hub to see if there are any additional scholarship opportunities available for you to pursue.
UTSA Scholarship Hub Art Scholarship Opportunities
Distinguished Scholarship
UTSA offers an automatic merit-based scholarship to incoming new freshman and transfer students who display exceptional scholastic achievement in high school by the priority deadline. Non-resident and international students awarded a Distinguished Scholarship for a minimum of $1,000 for the academic year will be granted a waiver for non-resident tuition if scholarship eligibility is maintained. This means out-of-state and international students could pay in-state tuition! For fall admitted freshmen, this scholarship is valued up to $20,000 for up to four years. For fall or spring admitted transfer students, this scholarship is valued up to $6,000 for up to two years. Renewal eligibility must be maintained and funding must be available.
Distinguished ScholarshipsUTSA Bold Promise
Although not a scholarship, UTSA is committed to cover tuition and mandatory fees 100% for eligible students who come from low and middle-income Texas families.
UTSA Bold PromiseCareers, Salary & Skills
UTSA prepares you for future careers that are in demand. See possible careers below. This data is pulled by a third-party tool called Emsi, which pulls data from sources like the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, online job postings, other government databases and more to give you regional and national career outlook related to this academic program. On top of the resources your college will provide, the University Career Center offers several resources to help students identify and develop the global skills necessary to successfully pursue and achieve lifelong career goals.
Minors & Certificates
After selecting a major area of study and enrolling at UTSA, degree-seeking students can choose from a variety of minors and certificates to supplement their education. Although not required, minors and certificates can help students customize their UTSA experience based on their passions and unique career goals.
Explore All Minors & CertificatesThe Honors Experience
Realize your full potential at The University of Texas at San Antonio’s Honors College. Rooted in experiential learning, our classes and programs are hands-on, project-based, and customizable to fit your individual goals. Students in any majors can get invited to our Honors College. Turn your passions into marketable skills for the future!
Why Join Honors?
Why UTSA?
At the College of Liberal and Fine Arts, our faculty and students are artists, performers, writers, linguists, archaeologists, historians, geographers, researchers, and philosophers. Our diverse range of curriculum and classes offers an agile, adaptive education ready for the contemporary workplace.
With the recent integration of the Southwest School of Art (now the UTSA Southwest campus), COLFA is a top selection for students looking to turn their art into a career. Coupled with the School of Music’s celebrated performing arts programs, this makes UTSA an industry leader in the fine arts.
Did you know UTSA is designated as an Adobe Creative Campus? UTSA is the first four-year university in Texas to be selected for this designation which means all students will have full access to the Adobe Creative Cloud software suite, as well as training and workshops.
Student Success
UTSA is all about your success. Our experiential learning initiative takes what you learn in the classroom and helps you apply it to real life. As a student in the College of Liberal & Fine Arts (COLFA), you will explore, engage and reflect on your experiences to launch your career in a global society. The COLFA Student Success Center is a one-stop resource to help you achieve your academic, personal and professional goals. Receive tutoring, find internships, connect with industry professionals for job opportunities, and enhance your professional development skills through the center’s comprehensive programming.