Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) University

NSCAD University is one of Canada's oldest and most respected independent cultural institutions. It has more than a hundred years of heritage and today is one of the top centres for education and research in North America. NSCAD University offers an impressive curriculum of creative design programs at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Popular programs include Design; Fashion and Textiles; Ceramics; Jewellery and Metalsmithing; Photography; Printmaking; Expanded Media; and the Master of Art in Art Education (MAAE).

Studying in Canada offers a rich and memorable experience, and since Canada's college and university degrees are recognized worldwide, studying here is an investment in the future. Canada has a high standard of living, tuition fees are among the lowest in English speaking countries, and international students may even be able to stay and work in Canada after graduation.

NSCAD University is in Halifax, Nova Scotia, which is a vibrant coastal city that feels like a busy urban centre and a cozy local town at the same time. It's a great place to experience the richness of Canadian culture and social life.

Students at NSCAD University become part of a creative community, benefiting from 24/7 studio access and an average class size of just 13. Small class sizes mean more attention and supervision, closer bonds between students and better opportunities for feedback and support.

The university has its own art gallery, which organizes more than 125 shows a year, mostly featuring work by undergraduates. NSCAD University also gives students the opportunity to learn and grow in international settings, collaborating with more than 70 art and design schools in the United States, the U.K., Norway, Portugal, Japan, Korea, and Australia.

NSCAD University's full- and part-time faculty pride themselves on the quality of their teaching and the dedication they give to their work. With small class sizes and an experienced faculty of teachers, mentors, and connectors, students benefit from plenty of individual attention and opportunities for feedback.

The small size of the university in comparison to most other art schools, and the intellectual and technical rigour on which NSCAD's reputation is built, means that the faculty are readily available to help and guide students and are deeply invested in their development.

Within the last three years, almost one-quarter of the NSCAD full-time faculty are new. They are young, diverse, connected, and work at the forefront of art and design. They can communicate their expertise to students of all backgrounds and are enthusiastic about the success of their teaching groups.

NSCAD offers a range of contemporary creative programs, that includes the strategic integration of arts, culture and community engagement, with a commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and academic excellence. Its programs are delivered via the following five academic divisions:

• Art History and Contemporary Culture
• Craft
• Design
• Fine Arts
• Media Arts

Within these areas, the university offers 11 undergraduate degree programs, four graduate programs, and three certificate programs. The NSCAD foundation program is a critically important part of the undergraduate experience. Everyone takes Foundation. It introduces the practices, principles, approaches and issues of art, craft and design, and allows new students the opportunity to begin to focus on a particular discipline area or combination of discipline areas.

Undergraduate entry requirements differ on a course-by-course basis, however all applicants must present the following material:

Transcripts

A written record of current and previous academic study is required from all degree candidates. High school applicants must have achieved an average of 70 per cent or higher at grade 12, including a minimum score of 70 per cent in grade 12 English for university preparation.

An International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma with a minimum grade of 24 is acceptable for entry to NSCAD.

Admissions Essay

Applicants should write a brief one-page essay explaining who they are and the reasons why they have chosen NSCAD. The essay should discuss prior experience and pathway to NSCAD as well as mentioning the skills and knowledge that they hope to gain, and how their NSCAD education might benefit them in the future.

Portfolio

The portfolio should include 10 to 20 examples of original work in at least three mediums as well as five to 10 examples of process work.

International Applicants

Undergraduate applicants whose language of instruction in high school (for at least three years) or at the post-secondary level (for at least one year) is not in English must submit evidence of their ability to carry on studies in English. This evidence can be provided through several assessment systems including TOEFL, IELTS, and several more.

NSCAD University believes in fair access to education and works hard to ensure that all its students have the resources needed to study in confidence. The university awards about CAD 200,000 per academic year to students with internal scholarships and bursaries as well as helping students to source external funding from outside scholarships.

Undergraduate applicants who apply for undergraduate admission to NSCAD by the March 1 application deadline are automatically considered for entrance scholarships and bursaries. The current range of individual entrance awards is CAD 500 to CAD 9,000 and some awards are renewable for up to four years of study. After each year of study at NSCAD, more scholarships will be available for application by qualified students.

Graduate applicants who apply for undergraduate admission to NSCAD by the January 15 application deadline are similarly automatically considered for entrance scholarships.

There's always something going on at NSCAD University, and recent developments include new funding and investment opportunities, academic initiatives, and student achievements.

Recent donations to the university mean increased support for visiting artists, new equipment for students on photography programs, and big boosts for materials funds all students. The NSCAD Materials Fund is a bursary program that helps students with demonstrated financial need cover the costs of common artmaking supplies and will support approximately 50 students with an average grant of CAD 1,000 per year. Over the course of five years, up to 250 students will benefit from the Fund.

Another recent donation from the Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation's SowtoSew project will help to establish NSCAD University as a centre of sustainable fashion in Canada. Over the next two years, this gift will provide bursaries for graduate and undergraduate students in the Textiles and Fashion program, welcome artists-in-residence, expand programming for the NSCAD Art Factory's Fashion Hacking project and resources for the Alfoldy Craft Institute at NSCAD. Bursaries of CAD 5,000 per year will be given to six undergraduates in third and fourth years of the textiles and fashion program and CAD 10,000 bursaries will be awarded to graduate students.

In the first deal of its kind at a fine arts university, NSCAD has been granted an institutional license from Fairmined, which allows the Jewellery Design and Metalsmithing program to offer its students access to ethically sourced gold and silver.

Graduates of NSCAD University are well placed to embark upon a range of successful career pathways, with an internationally respected qualification and an expansive support network of alumni and creative professionals.

A community of nearly ten thousand NSCAD alumni are active in 56 countries around the world, working in top areas of culture and design, from the Museum of Modern Art in New York, to Canada's National Gallery, from Pixar studios in Los Angeles to Oscar-nominated documentary films. Many have won major art and design awards and are practising artists.

In a recent survey, 85 per cent of alumni reported that they are working in a professional field influenced by their time at university, and 80 per cent of alumni believed the theories and skills learned at university prepared them to succeed in their chosen field

More than 90 per cent of those taking part in the survey also mentioned that their degree was a good investment, NSCAD continues to play an important role in their life, and that NSCAD played an important role in my development as a person.

Overall, a degree from NSCAD is an asset in the search for creative job opportunities, and a stepping stone to achieving superb long term career prospects.