How many MFA programs are in the United States right now? (Updated November 2021)

From Blog Director Jill Randall:

In Spring 2016, an online conversation led to me creating this list. I try to update it twice a year. At the moment, there are currently 48 MFA programs in United States. 

Below, I go state by state with program names. The program names underlined have been highlighted on the blog; click on the links to read more. If any program has been omitted, please leave a comment below, and I will update the list. And if your MFA program does not have a post on the site, please email me at randalldanceprojects@gmail.com.

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University of Utah

Alabama

• University of Alabama

Arizona

• Arizona State
• University of Arizona

California

• CalArts
• Saint Mary's College
• UCLA
• Cal State Long Beach
• Mills College
• UC Davis
• UC Irvine
• UC Riverside
• UC San Diego

Colorado

• University of Colorado

District of Columbia

• George Washington University

Florida

• Jacksonville University
• Florida State

Hawaii

• University of Hawaii

Illinois

• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Iowa

• University of Iowa

Maryland

• University of Maryland

Massachusetts

• Smith College

Michigan

• University of Michigan

Mississippi

• Belhaven University

Missouri

• Washington University in St. Louis

New Jersey

• Montclair State
• Rutgers

New Mexico

• University of New Mexico

New York

• Hunter College
• NYU
• Sarah Lawrence College
• SUNY Brockport

North Carolina

• University of North Carolina at Greensboro
• Duke University
  

Ohio

• Case Western Reserve University
• Ohio State

Oklahoma

• University of Oklahoma

Oregon

• University of Oregon (on hiatus as of 2019)

Pennsylvania

• Temple University
• University of the Arts (NEW full-time and low-res)
• Wilson College

Texas

• Sam Houston University
• Texas Woman's University
• University of Texas at Austin

Utah

• University of Utah

Vermont

• Bennington College

Virginia

• George Mason University
• Hollins University

Washington

• University of Washington

Wisconsin

• University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

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Related links:

Multiple Perspectives: Deciding When to Begin Graduate School

Blog Series: Masters Programs (MFA and MA)

Screendance Programs

Low Residency Programs

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Comments

[Ruben graciani]

University of New Mexico - MFA in Dance

[Suzanne Callahan]

In 2012 my consulting firm, Callahan Consulting for the Arts, did a study for the Mellon Foundation that addressed this question. A summary of the study is here: http://www.forthearts.org/publications/choreography-report. The full report is on the Mellon website here: https://mellon.org/media/filer_public/d8/7c/d87c5b26-bd0f-4f25-ae37-4ca7e3afd2f4/callahanconsulting_choreographictrainingfullreport_oct2014.pdf
At the time of the study, based on data from the Dance Magazine College Guide, there were 31 MFA programs. The full list is in Appendix B on pages 74-77. You may wish to compare it to your list.

[Suzanne Callahan]

Here's a better link to the overview of the study on the website of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. https://mellon.org/resources/news/articles/choreography-united-states-comparative-study-training-and-support-systems/

[Emily Wright]

Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi - MFA in Dance
http://jackson.belhaven.edu/mfa-dance.htm

[JK]

University of Florida
University of Mississippi

[Liam Clancy]

University of California, San Diego
http://theatre.ucsd.edu/graduate/programs/dance/index.htm

[Jill Homan Randall]

Hello. I just added UC San Diego to the list. My research does not show that U of Florida has an MFA in dance at the moment:
http://arts.ufl.edu/academics/theatre-and-dance/programs/