Santa Fe University is in Milan
Picture yourself studying graphic design in Milan, where innovative design ideas are born. Working on real-world projects with Italian firms. Collaborating with classmates from around the globe as you build an inspired portfolio.
With Santa Fe University of Art and Design’s Foundation Year in Milan, that daydream could become your reality. If you intend to major in graphic design, the Foundation Year in Milan gives you the rare opportunity to study design at an Italian arts academy beginning in your freshman year. And you can devote not just a semester but a full year to the experience—maybe even more. Because you can choose to finish your bachelor’s degree in either Milan or Santa Fe.
Your Year in Milan
You’ll enroll in Santa Fe University but spend your first year in Milan, at Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti Milano (NABA), a leading design academy in one of the world’s most influential centers of design. There, you’ll join international students in a curriculum created by Santa Fe University and taught in English by our faculty members. You’ll study:
- Basic design theory
- Drawing
- Composition
- Graphic arts
- Art history
- Digital imaging
- Italian culture and language
The Foundation Year in Milan is a way to launch your graphic design education while developing a deep understanding of culture and its impact on art.
After this foundational year, you choose. If you love NABA and Milan, you can stay. Or if you’re ready for a new experience, you can continue in Santa Fe. This program broadens your options. Either choice offers good value, with scholarship opportunities available based on talent, merit, and need.
Continuing at NABA
Graduating seniors from U.S. high schools usually aren’t qualified to enter Italian universities, which require 13 years of secondary education. The Foundation Year in Milan opens a new window of opportunity—a bridge year that prepares you to continue at NABA, if you choose. However, if you do choose NABA, you must fulfill an additional requirement: testing out of four AP courses, a process you may have begun in high school. You can then enroll in any of NABA’s three-year bachelor’s programs in design and visual arts, including Design, Fashion Design, Graphic Design and Art Direction, Media Design and Multimedia Arts, Painting and Visual Arts, and Theatre Design.
Continuing at Santa Fe University
Santa Fe boasts the third-largest art market in the United States and by far the highest concentration of artists of any U.S. city.* If you continue your degree in Santa Fe, you’ll gain the multifaceted experience of studying in two global centers of creativity: one in design and the other in fine arts. Both NABA and Santa Fe University will give you a strong foundation in theory and practice, broaden your vision as a graphic designer, and connect you to career opportunities. And your studies at NABA will give you a European and industrial perspective on art and design that you can share with your classmates in Santa Fe.
After NABA, you can continue as a sophomore in SFUAD’s Graphic Design program. This BFA degree program takes a unique and dynamic approach to the medium, examining the dual nature of graphic design as a vehicle for artistic expression and a specialized profession.
Curriculum
The Foundation Year in Milan curriculum includes 29 credits at NABA, plus 3 credits earned with either an online English course or a summer workshop on SFUAD’s campus.
Courses at NABA
| Semester |
Course |
Hours |
Credits |
| Fall |
Topics in Art History |
45 |
3 |
| Fall |
Special Topics: Drawing Lab I |
45 |
2 |
| Fall |
Digital Image Making |
90 |
4 |
| Fall |
Special Topics in Design: Exploring Design |
45 |
3 |
| Fall |
Special Topics in Design: 3D Design Experience: Design Thinking |
45 |
2 |
| Spring |
Italian Contemporary Society |
45 |
3 |
| Spring |
Topics in Art History II |
45 |
3 |
| Spring |
Special Topics: Drawing Lab I |
45 |
2 |
| Spring |
Graphic Design I |
90 |
4 |
| Spring |
Special Topics in Design: Portfolio |
75 |
3 |
| |
TOTAL |
570 |
29 |
Courses administered by SFUAD – Choose one
| Semester |
Module |
Course |
Module |
Credits |
| Summer |
Online |
EGL 1001 |
8 weeks |
3 |
| Summer |
Workshops |
Various |
3 weeks |
3 |
| |
|
|
TOTAL |
3 |
Join Santa Fe University in Milan—and see where the experience takes you and your graphic design career!
*Source: “The Most Artistic Cities in America,” The Atlantic, Nov. 30, 2011, on the Internet at http://www.theatlanticcities.com/arts-and-lifestyle/2011/11/most-artistic-cities-america/592/ (viewed online Feb. 16, 2012).
Santa Fe University of Art and Design (formerly the College of Santa Fe) is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association, www.ncahlc.org.
