Graduate Degree in Visual Arts

Gain Advanced Teaching Skills and More with a Visual Arts Degree at BSU

Are you a middle or high school art educator seeking professional licensure in Massachusetts? Or are you a licensed educator hoping to gain additional knowledge and a master’s degree in visual arts? If teaching art is your passion and you’d love to grow your skills, consider a master’s in visual arts education at Bridgewater State University.

For more than 180 years, Bridgewater State University has helped educators like you develop and master their teaching and art skills to grow as educators and advance their careers. If this sounds like the next step for you, our NASAD-accredited Department of Art and Art History’s master’s in visual arts education can help you gain the tools to take your teaching — and your art — to the next level.

Graduate Admissions

Bridgewater State University
Maxwell Library, Room 019
10 Shaw Road
Bridgewater, MA 02325

(508) 531-1300

gradadmissions@bridgew.edu

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Visual Arts Degree Program Highlights

BSU student making a book while Professor Leigh Craven talks with another student

Convenient class times to work around your schedule

At BSU, you’ll take visual arts degree courses, including professional development courses, in the evenings to accommodate your schedule as a working teacher. We offer full- and part-time MAT program options, too.

a BSU student sitting at an easel painting with other students painting at easels in the background

Hone skills as an educator — and as an artist

While you earn your master’s in visual arts education at BSU, you’ll develop technical proficiency in at least one area. We believe you’ll find the most success as an art educator when you have a firm understanding of creative art practices, highly developed conceptual skills — and opportunities to create your own art, too. As you explore personal conceptual interests, you’ll create a cohesive body of artwork and thesis, too.

3 students in an education class, one speaking and the others listening

Teaching and leadership practices for more effective teaching

Through our visual arts education degree program, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of instruction and assessment techniques to reach diverse learners. You’ll also develop advocacy and leadership skills you can draw on throughout your career as a teacher.

Credentials you need in a master’s degree in visual arts program

We designed our master’s in visual arts education program to meet the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s criteria for professional state licensure regulations. Not only does this visual arts degree program satisfy requirements for teacher licensure, but it provides you with the academic background you’ll need to pursue further graduate study, too.

Personalized learning experiences

While studying for your master’s in visual arts education, you’ll take courses with only a handful of other graduate students. This provides you with a personalized learning experience and opportunities to work side-by-side with peers and instructors in a collegial and supportive atmosphere as you earn your art education degree.

Graduate art education degree courses taught by expert faculty

Learn from talented, dedicated and diverse faculty members who create a dynamic and inspiring learning environment in our visual arts degree program. Your instructors also hold advanced degrees and have extensive teaching and research experience they bring to bear in the classroom.

Program of Study for Visual Arts Degree Graduate Students

At BSU, our mission is to give our master’s in visual arts education students like you the rigorous and comprehensive education and training you need to become a successful artist-teacher.

Our content-based visual arts education degree courses integrate theory and practice to give you a solid foundation in art and art history and help you advance your pedagogical skills, too.

You’ll take core courses in leadership, research, instruction and assessment, as well as art history and studio art courses. You’ll also:

Study foundations and curriculum concepts
Explore critical sociocultural, political and economic issues contemporary educators and society face

Admission Requirements and Program Details

Click link below to reveal the program's admission requirements and program description.

Program details from 2024-2025 Undergraduate/Graduate Catalog

Program coordinator: Amy Lovera

Careers in Visual Arts

Our visual arts education degree program will help you gain and master advanced teaching and leadership skills, develop a deeper knowledge of the visual arts, and help you acquire your professional licensure to teach visual arts in PreK–12 environments in Massachusetts.

You can also apply what you learn throughout this MAT program to other careers outside of the classroom, such as:

Museum education
Curriculum development
Educational consulting
Community arts

Secondary school teachers with master’s degrees can earn about

24%

more than secondary school teachers with bachelor’s degrees alone, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Graduate Funding Opportunities

The College of Graduate Studies provides various opportunities for graduate students to receive funding while working towards their degrees. Appointments are competitive and are determined by undergraduate and/or graduate grade point averages, pertinent experience, educational preparation and interviews. For information on assistantships, fellowships and conference funding awards, please visit our Graduate Funding Opportunities page.

The Master of Arts in Teaching Visual Arts program is eligible for unsubsidized student loans and applicants are encouraged to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. For more specific questions, please visit the Financial Aid Office website or contact them directly at finaid@bridgew.edu.