The Pratt Institute School of Art and Design offers a comprehensive professional art and design education. Courses range from modern arts such as animation and digital imaging to the more-traditional disciplines of painting, drawing and sculpture. The university offers associate, undergraduate and graduate degrees. "BusinessWeek" (now "Bloomberg Businessweek") described it as one of the top design schools in the U.S. The faculty includes professional artists, some of whom have won awards such as Fulbright, Tiffany and Guggenheim fellowships.
The New York Academy of Art was founded in 1982 by scholars, artists and patrons of art, including Andy Warhol. It offers a two-year Master of Fine Art (MFA) course for those with an undergraduate degree. Concentrations are in drawing, painting and sculpture, and students will be educated on traditional and contemporary figurative art. In the second year, students taking the MFA course are assigned an individual studio in which to complete their thesis.
Parsons offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in fine art, as well as well as other disciplines such as interior design and photography. Parson's New School for Design is part of the larger institution, within which there are four other schools. Students taking art courses have the opportunity to expand their study by taking electives in other disciplines such as business or media studies. All degrees have an element of history, theory and criticism within them.
The Art Students League of New York is an independent art school with a strong history of involvement with well-known artists, such as Mark Rothko, who learned under Max Weber during his time at the school. The school was established by artists for artists, in 1875, and is open to any student at any level of experience, although those hoping to attend advanced courses may need to attend an interview.