The Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) is a college in Portland, Oregon, United States that grants Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees and Master of Fine Arts degrees. With nine departments, communication design, illustration, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, intermedia, and the mentor-based MFA in Visual Studies. PNCA also provides continuing education in the arts to the local community.
PNCA was created in 1909 by the Portland Art Museum, and remained "The Museum Art School" until 1980. The college changed its name to reflect an independence from the museum. In April 1994, the school formally split from the art museum to become the Pacific Northwest College of Art, a fully independent institution. In 1998, the college moved to its present campus in Portland's Pearl District, allowing the Portland Art Museum to create a new contemporary wing.
PNCA employs 18 full-time faculty (nine tenured), 49 part-time faculty, and a large number of continuing education faculty. All faculty are working artists and designers, many showing both nationally and internationally. Of the faculty, MK Guth is noteworthy. Guth recently participated in the 2008 Whitney Biennial, she is chair of the MFA program at PNCA (FIVE).
2007/2008 enrollment in the BFA program is 440 full-time students. 48% of students are from out of state and 52% are from Oregon. The MFA program has 15 students per cohort; the pilot program is an MFA in Visual Studies with anticipated MFAs in sequential art and curatorial studies. The continuing education program serves more than 2,500 students part-time per year. 80 students currently reside in the PNCA housing, Goose Hollow.
PNCA is primarily located in a cluster of warehouse buildings in northwest Portland, in the Pearl District. The primary campus building and ancillary teaching facilities in nearby buildings total over 100,000 square feet. The campus includes twelve public exhibition galleries, two professional galleries and ten spaces reserved for student and community showings. The galleries include: the Feldman Gallery, Higgins Gallery, Manuel Issquerdo 3D Gallery, BFA Gallery, special project space, Gallery 214, the IMAG, the Swigert Commons, the In Flux space, the Vorhies Library gallery, the Hall of Illustration, and the little-utilized Stephens Exhibition Space. PNCA supports a fully functioning professional design firm, operated by the students and their mentors, the C4D or Center 4 Design. This firm, operated in a separate satellite commercial space, works to execute professional design projects for its clients. The client provides funding for production costs and the students receive a portfolio filled with actual design work and a working client list.
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| Percent of Students International: | 1% |
| On-Campus Housing Available: | No |
| Tuition & Fees (undergraduate) | Expenses | ||
Published Tuition and Fees: |
$ 17,296 | ||
Average Tuition for Full-Time Undergrads: |
$ 16,490 | ||
Required Fees for Full-Time Undergrads: |
$ 1,170 | ||
| Financial Aid | Avg. Amount Received | % of Students Receiving Aid | |
Federal Grants: |
$ 3,450 | 35% | |
State and Local Grants: |
$ 2,158 | 13% | |
Institutional Grants: |
$ 2,769 | 65% | |
Student Loans: |
$ 4,880 | 68% | |
Any Aid: |
81% |
| Acceptance Rate: | 72% (Selective) |
| Application Fee: | $ 35.00 |
| Formal Demonstration of Competencies: | Required |
| High School Diploma or Equivalent: | Not Required |
| High School GPA: | Required |
| High School Rank: | Recommended |
| High School Record: | Required |
| Recommendations: | Required |
| TOEFL: | Required |
| Test Scores: | Not Required |
