Rhode Island School of Design, also known as RISD, is a fine arts and design college located in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1877, the RISD campus is located at the base of College Hill, contiguous with the campus of Brown University. The two schools share more than a campus, they also offer joint courses.
Consistently ranked as the top fine arts college in the United States, RISD offers 16 majors under its undergraduate degree program and 17 majors for its graduate degree program. It is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD), consortium of 36 leading art schools in the United States. The RISD Museum houses over 80,000 works of art and each year world-renowned artists, critics, authors, and philosophers visit the school’s College Hill campus.
Around 2,360 students are enrolled in various courses at RISD, 66% of them females and 17% from 56 other countries outside of the U.S. These students are ably mentored by 144 fulltime faculty members. With a low student to faculty ratio of 8.2 is to 1 and the average class size no bigger than 13, students of RISD enjoy a focused, one-on-one interaction with their instructors.
Cost of attendance for academic year 2009-2010 is made up of full-year tuition of US$36,364 for fulltime degree students; student activity fee of US$295; cost of room of US$6,120; meal plan rate of US$4,726; and books and supplies at US$2,000 for a total of US$49,505. Financial aid is extended in the form of loans, grants and scholarships for qualified students.