Every M.F.A. candidate must (1) prepare a written statement, (2) offer a thesis exhibition of studio work completed during residency, and (3) give an oral defense of the written statement and exhibition. The written statement may deal with the major concerns of the student's own work or with some aesthetic or historical issue in art. The oral defense of the written statement is presented at the time of the thesis exhibition.

The art programs are housed in buildings that are open twenty-four hours a day and are near the Fine Arts Library (about 140,000 volumes) and the university's Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art.

Graduate students in the painting program work in private studios in Tjaden Hall. The sculpture program has its own building, a 45-by-180-foot converted foundry with 14-foot ceilings and a bronze casting facility. Separate studios, complete gas- and arc-welding facilities, heavy-duty grinders, a drill press, a band saw, and a variety of portable power tools are provided.

In the printmaking program, students study the various techniques, including relief, intaglio, lithography, serigraphy, and various photographic processes. Experiment and tradition, theory, history, and practice are part of the program. Printmaking program facilities are in Tjaden Hall and include etching presses, lithographic presses, and proof presses.

The photography program involves the study of various photographic, processes such as black and white, color, nonsilver, and large-format, with emphasis on both aesthetics and technique. Photography facilities are located in Tjaden Hall.