New York's School of Visual Arts closes Photography MFA amid US$22m deficit
The School of Visual Arts in New York has closed its Photography MFA program.
An MFA, or Master of Fine Arts, is a postgraduate degree for working artists. The closure was reported on 15 September 2026.
The shutdown follows a US$22 million structural budget deficit at the school. A structural deficit is a shortfall built into regular income and spending. The gap is large. It is the largest deficit in the school’s history, according to ARTnews.
The college had already made course cuts as it tried to manage the shortfall, according to Hyperallergic. That reporting in August detailed the US$22 million figure. The September report repeated it as the current total.
Photography is not the only postgraduate course to close. The school will stop offering its master’s degree in curatorial practice from 2027, according to Artforum. Curatorial practice is the work of organising exhibitions and caring for collections.
The curatorial course is no longer accepting applicants. It is 14 years old. It is a two-year MA program.
For anyone applying, this means two paths have closed within six months. One trained photographers at postgraduate level. The other trained people to organise shows and look after art.
