A New Chapter for the Stamps School’s Top-Ranked MFA Program

At the Stamps Commencement Celebration on May 1, it was a joy to see our students celebrate their achievements. The speaker at the ceremony was Cosmo Whyte, an MFA alum who is an assistant professor at UCLA, and a prolific, practicing artist whose work has consistently grown in stature since he graduated in 2015. 

We invited him to be our speaker because he is a tremendous example of our hopes for each of our students. This fall, he will return to Ann Arbor for a solo exhibition at the Stamps Gallery, and he will be a featured presenter at the Michigan Theater for the Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series. Cosmo represents all of the finest attributes of our work at the Stamps School.

The outstanding national standing of the Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design is based upon our reputation in the field along these key factors: the excellence of our renowned faculty of artists and designers, being part of the leading public university in the world, and the strength of our graduate programs, in particular our prestigious MFA Program. As I often say, our collective goal is not to be part of a group of top art and design schools — our aspiration is to build the nation’s premier program.

This year, we will take a major step towards that shared ideal.

The Plan to Fund MFA Students

For the last few years, we have allocated additional resources to our graduate programs, first by relaunching admissions for the Master of Design in Design (MDes) program last fall, with our new cohort arriving this September. We hired directors Sara Dean for MDes, and Angela Washko for the Stamps MFA. Each of them is an expert and leader in their field, as well an advocate and mentor for our graduate students. 

Angela’s directorship follows that of Professor David Chung, who stewarded the MFA program for many years, and, aligned with his colleagues, built the Stamps School MFA program into one of the top ranked in the nation. In the last three years, we have added more tenure track faculty who are helping to guide these students through the Stamps MFA, participating in regular critique sessions, having one-on-one discussions of ideas, and working alongside them on research and other initiatives.

Building on the solid foundation in her first year as Director, Angela has moved quickly to enhance the program and create additional opportunities for students of both the first and second year cohorts. In this video, Angela talks about some of the new approaches with the MFA program, and what students can expect:

Beginning with the fiscal year on July 1, 2026, we will fully fund the tuition and fees for MFA students at Stamps, allowing exceptional prospective graduate students the opportunity to come to Stamps to pursue their terminal degree. This move aligns and advances our mission by bringing the most promising and creative minds to the Stamps School where they will grow in their knowledge and practice to become transformative, creative leaders in their chosen field. 

The funding is a result of our reallocation of funding at the Stamps School, which will allow us to utilize Graduate Student Instructors and Graduate Student Staff Assistants to take on roles during their time in the MFA program to support studio operations, assist in gallery operations and administration, and participate more fully in day-to-day activities needed to operate the Stamps School. There may also be additional limited teaching positions available to graduate students as demand for undergrad courses continues to increase. This will provide the students with invaluable skills and experience while they earn their MFA degree. 

Why This Matters

Pursuing this path will positively change the program dramatically, since this new initiative is a clear statement that as a school of art and design within one of the world’s leading public research universities, we value equity, access, creativity, risk-taking, and freedom of expression.

With economic barriers and boundaries to the Stamps MFA experience, we will be able to recruit the exceptional applicants to the program, the students who will change culture, art forms, and the larger discourse in the field. Our faculty intentionally seeks strong graduate students, who become not only their mentees but also collaborators, studio assistants, future colleagues, and stewards of the program’s long-term reputation. We want diverse voices from across the spectrum of society and historically marginalized backgrounds to join us at Stamps. We want the courageous and curious who challenge conventional wisdom and creativity in our academic, artistic, and intellectual environment at Stamps.

There is a further cascading effect of expanding influence when universities fully-fund these programs. Faculty at peer institutions often interpret a program’s ability to attract top MFA candidates as an indicator of program quality, and this perception can influence their own professional mobility and career decisions. Having the MFA program fully-funded clearly communicates stability and legitimacy in comparison with peer programs. It is a meaningful way to develop an academic community within a top-tier public research university that becomes a destination for students and faculty alike. It is a sea change that will define the next generation of the Stamps School.

“I’ve been to a lot of MFA thesis shows around the country and I can say with confidence this is one of the best I’ve encountered — not only because of the strength and complexity and pleasures offered by the individual projects, but also because of the sense that the artists were talking and thinking together, learning and being inspired by each other. That such a strong sense of conversation could result in really unique and individual artistic voices is truly remarkable.”

—Aruna D’Souza, Art Critic and Writer

Supporting Our Students

With that intention, we are calling on our greater community to contribute to this sustained commitment to our students. At Stamps, we are extraordinarily proud that we can now fully fund the education of our MFA students, but we cannot do it in perpetuity without philanthropic support. 

A practical aspect of offering the fully-funded MFA program is the fact that leading academic programs are by their nature expensive, and removing that financial burden will help secure the future of these students. This allows them to devote themselves completely to their making, their research, and their artistic activities without the difficult reality of financial instability. Further support will offer them the chance to travel internationally, to attend and present at conferences, and to have other experiences that will stimulate their practice and encourage their practice and broaden their work. 

I encourage anyone who has been moved by an exhibition, object, mural, or installation to join us in fully and forever funding the MFA program at Stamps. This initiative is an intentional investment by the Stamps school, which is why your continued support matters. Help us to not just be one of the top MFA Programs in the country but the best program that makes it possible for the best and brightest among us to graduate and share their creative work with the world.