Major Mondays: Roski BA vs BFA Programs
Overview: The USC Roski School of Art and Design offers three undergraduate degrees: the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art (BFA Art), the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Design (BFA Design), and the Bachelor of Art in Art (BA Art). They are all 4-year degrees and allow students to choose their own custom mix of art and/or design classes across the different art areas: 2D/3D Design, Photography/Video, Painting/Drawing and Sculpture/Ceramics.
Undergraduate Degrees: The Bachelor of Art in Art (BA Art) is a humanities degree and allows for the selection of a wider variety of courses across the university, including the study of a foreign language of your choice and room for a minor, all in four years! The degree provides the student with the opportunity to double major or to combine an art major with a minor in various fields.
For the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art (BFA Art) the choice of studio courses is mostly self-driven by the student, with emphasis available in painting and drawing, photography and video, and sculpture and ceramics. Introductory courses focus on technique and conceptual context while building a solid grounding in critical theory. Advanced students work on self-generated independent projects under the guidance and mentoring of individual faculty members. Emphasis in the last year is on the production of a major body of work and professional quality portfolio.
The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Design (BFA Design) is a four-year pre-professional degree leading to a variety of careers in advertising, publication, fashion, sports, entertainment and film design, among others. BFA Design students are encouraged to explore in greater depth an area of design in which they have an interest. Students select electives based on their personal and professional goals and in consultation with academic advisers.
Difference between a BA and BFA Program?
The BA Art is a liberal arts degree and features more of a variety of courses from across the university. The choice of art and design courses is very much student-driven, and is ideal for students who want to combine their interests in art or design with a minor or double major in a related or complementary field, such as business, neuroscience or game design/animation.
The BFA degrees are intensive, pre-professional degrees that feature a full immersion in artistic or design media. The Roski School of Art and Design offers a BFA in Art and a BFA in Design.
Unique Opportunities: Art and design students have the opportunity to have their art presented at the independent student Exhibitions with the Lindhurst Gallery and Lindhurst Cases. This end of the semester event allows you to work with a professor and develop a project of your choosing. The student and faculty mentor work together on all aspects of project/exhibition, including the development of project’s goals, concept, and content, installation, exhibition critique, and de-installation.
What do students do with a Roski degree after college?
Professionalization for artists and designers begins in the junior year with an Arts Internship program, where the skills and techniques learned at Roski are applied to real-world settings. The Roski School has partnered with over 400 art and design-related companies in and around Los Angeles (and some in NYC) to offer internships in a variety of professional venues for qualified students, from museums, galleries, advertising firms, fashion companies, sports franchises, entertainment companies, animation and game design companies, start-ups and established big name companies.
Roski graduates have gone on to work as…
Art directors for the Walt Disney Company, others as Imagineers!
Interactive designers for Warner Bros.
Designer/Print coordinators for NBC Universal
Designer for 20th Century Fox
Marketing and Design at the Pasadena Museum of California Art
Consumer Products Designer, DreamWorks Animation
Jr. Graphic Designer at MGM Studio
Production Assistant at Marvel Studio
Notable Faculty:
Suzanne Lacy (PhD): Suzanne Lacy is an internationally exhibited visual artist, social activist, educator, writer and feminist whose body of work includes performances, video and photographic installation, critical writing and public art with a focus on social and urban issues. Over the last 30 years, Lacy has published numerous pieces of critical commentary and lectured widely. Lacy’s work has been on display at the Tate Modern, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Whitney Museum and the Bilbao Museum in Spain.
Jud Fine (MFA): Jud Fine is a Professor of Art in the Roski School of Fine Art. He is a sculptor and the former Director of the School’s Master of Fine Arts Program. Over a 45-year career his work has been shown nationally and internationally and is represented in numerous public collections including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Chicago Art Institute, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Guggenheim Museum, New York, Yale University Art Museum, Museum Stuki, Poland, University of Sydney, Power Art Institute, Australia and the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Art, Moscow.
Want to learn more?
To learn more about the academic programs and facilities, check out the USC Roski School of Art and Design Brochure. You can also take advantage of a Roski Virtual Tour.
To stay up-to-date with Roski events and artwork, give them a follow on Instagram (@uscroski)
Connect with a Roski undergraduate ambassador to get a student’s perspective on art@ USC, visit the Roski Undergraduate Ambassadors page.
Written by: Tyler Swartout, International Admission Officer - USC Office of Admission
Edited by: Uluwehi Baldemor, Assistant Director - USC Office of Admission