About UArts
For more than 140 years we’ve been developing innovative creative leaders – because we see you differently.
It’s true that our top-level faculty provides a rigorous arts, design or writing education; but to be honest, so do most art schools.
UArts is much more: we’re the only arts school in America that makes it possible to work and collaborate across traditional boundaries. More than 30 minors are open to all students, so animators can study guitar, industrial designers can minor in ceramics, creative writers can take classes in illustration.
We are more because you are more.
#UArtist
Check out some of the work the UArts community is producing. #UArtist is a celebration of the boundless creativity of the UArts community.
Innovative education for 140 years.
Established in 1876, the university was formed by the merging of two century-old institutions: Philadelphia College of Art and Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts. After being granted university status in 1987, the University of the Arts became the largest institution of its kind in the nation, offering programs in design, fine arts, media arts, crafts, music, dance, theater and writing.
By the Numbers
Approximately 1,500 students
62% women, 33% men
45% BIPOC enrollment
93 full-time faculty members
Student/Faculty ratio: 8.5 to 1
Average class size: 15 students
UArts students hail from 42 states and 16 foreign countries
6 Academic buildings in the heart of Philadelphia's arts district
4 residence halls in the arts district
10 professional performance venues on campus
15 exhibition/gallery spaces on campus
Laurie Wagman Recording Studios
The newly opened facilities are dedicated to exploring all facets of music production including composition, sound design, digital and analog recording, mixing and mastering.
Albert M. Greenfield Makerspace
Unique to UArts, the Albert M. Greenfield Makerspace is a 3,500-square-foot digital & traditional fabrication studio that brings together the community and serves as a catalyst for the collaboration, experimentation & innovation that’s characteristic of UArts.
