Arts and music graduates from two CUNY community colleges have new prestigious paths to bachelor’s degrees and careers in the arts this fall. National accreditation for Queensborough Community College’s arts programs and Borough of Manhattan Community College’s new linkage with Lehman College’s B.S. in Music program open new horizons for arts students.
“The City University of New York offers an education in the arts equal to that at the most highly regarded private schools at a fraction of the cost,” said Chancellor James B. Milliken. “CUNY provides the opportunity for all students to pursue their passion in the arts.”
Queensborough Community College in June received accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, one of only 19 community colleges in the nation to be accredited by NASAD and the only one in New York. With this Queensborough joins the ranks of New York City’s premier art education institutions to offer a nationally recognized art and design education.
Most Queensborough art and design graduates want to go on to earn a bachelor’s degree. The majority of four-year private art colleges accept transfer students into the third year of their programs. With accreditation, the students who attend Queensborough for their first two years can be confident that their education will be of the same caliber as that at the private institutions, but at often significantly less cost.
In addition, students will be able to get full credit for their first two years of foundation study in art, although transfer schools frequently allow only partial credits to two-year schools.
The rigorous five-year NASAD accreditation process examines not only the art programs but also the college itself, the faculty, the successful graduates and the support systems that are in place to ensure a rich educational experience. The Queensborough Art Gallery and Kupferberg Holocaust Center offer world-class exhibitions in addition to hands-on learning opportunities to students in a wide variety of arts fields.
Borough of Manhattan Community College students who look forward to careers in performing or teaching music can enroll this fall in the college’s new Associate in Science (A.S.) in Music program with specializations in Music Studies and Music Performance. The program will integrate with the Bachelor of Science in Music at Lehman College, which offers a specialization in Music Education. The new program will educate students in the fundamentals of music and in specialized topics in music education and music performance, including music theory, keyboard skills, ear training and sight singing.
Music majors at BMCC have a wide range of facilities to support their work including 16 practice rooms; the Art and Rita Siegel Piano Lab, which provides 24 electronic keyboards, and classrooms with Steinway grand pianos as well as a comprehensive collection of percussive and string instruments. Past music majors at BMCC have won national contests and performed widely. Auditions for the Fall 2017 Music Program will be held August 18 in the college’s Fiterman Hall.
Other ongoing CUNY art education programs include LaGuardia Community College integrated with the B.A. and BFA programs at Queens College and Hunter College and the program in Fine Arts at the School of Visual Arts, and Queensborough Community College with Queens College.
Facebook Comments