Founded in 1877, Rhode Island School of Design. is a Private college. Located in Rhode Island, which is a city setting in Rhode Island, the campus itself is Urban. The campus is home to 1,999 full time undergraduate students, and 478 full time graduate students.
The Rhode Island School of Design Academic calendar runs on a Four-one-four plan basis. In the school year the student to faculty ratio was 9:1. There are 174 full time instructional teachers. Degrees awarded at Rhode Island School of Design include: Bachelor's Degree, Masters Degree, Post-master's certificate, Doctor's degree.
Quick Facts
Acceptance Rate
34%
Application Deadline
15-Dec
Application Fee
60
SAT Range
1080-1340
ACT Range
24-30
Admissions at RISD are considered More Selective, with ,4% of all applicants being admitted.
In the school year, of the students who applied to the school, only 16 of those who were admitted eventually ended up enrolling.
0% of incoming freshmen are in the top half of their high school class. 0% were in the top quarter, and 0% were in the top tenth. You can apply online.
STUDENT LIFE Reviews
We asked, and students answered these important questions about student life at Rhode Island School of Design.
0%
“We”re apathetic”
36%
“We know about current events and vote”
50%
“We participate and encourage others to get involved”
14%
“There”s nothing we won”t protest”
7%
“We save it for the classroom”
7%
“Sometimes, but not often”
43%
“There”s usually intelligent conversation to be found”
43%
“All the time, including weekends”
7%
“I”m always terrified”
7%
“I only go out in groups”
50%
“I usually let someone know where I”m going”
36%
“I feel extremely safe”
80%
“We don”t play sports”
0%
“We play recreationally”
20%
“We bought the gear”
0%
“We live for the big game”
7%
“It”s not really our thing”
0%
“Occasinally we gallery crawl”
0%
“There are a variety of opportunities”
93%
“We”re a very artistic group”
7%
“Haven”t met them”
43%
“Available in class”
36%
“They keep regular office hours”
14%
“They”re always available”
93%
“No greek life, but other groups to join”
7%
“There is some involvement, but not a lot”
0%
“Plenty of people join a sorority or fraternity”
0%
“It”s everything. If you”re not greek, you”re a geek”
0%
“We”re not into drinking at all”
29%
“Maybe a little, but it”s not a big thing”
64%
“We only party on weekends”
7%
“There”s some drinking happening every night”
7%
“Never, we”re here to learn”
36%
“There might be people who do”
36%
“People are known to partake on weekends”
21%
“There”s a huge drug scene”
0%
“We”re apathetic”
36%
“We know about current events and vote”
50%
“We participate and encourage others to get involved”
14%
“There”s nothing we won”t protest”
7%
“We save it for the classroom”
7%
“Sometimes, but not often”
43%
“There”s usually intelligent conversation to be found”
43%
“All the time, including weekends”
7%
“I”m always terrified”
7%
“I only go out in groups”
50%
“I usually let someone know where I”m going”
36%
“I feel extremely safe”
80%
“We don”t play sports”
0%
“We play recreationally”
20%
“We bought the gear”
0%
“We live for the big game”
7%
“It”s not really our thing”
0%
“Occasinally we gallery crawl”
0%
“There are a variety of opportunities”
93%
“We”re a very artistic group”
7%
“Haven”t met them”
43%
“Available in class”
36%
“They keep regular office hours”
14%
“They”re always available”
93%
“No greek life, but other groups to join”
7%
“There is some involvement, but not a lot”
0%
“Plenty of people join a sorority or fraternity”
0%
“It”s everything. If you”re not greek, you”re a geek”
62 Students rated on-campus housing 3.7 stars. 15 % gave the school a 5.0.
How would you rate off-campus housing?
54 Students rated off-campus housing 3.3 stars. 0 % gave the school a 5.0.
How would you rate campus food?
65 Students rated campus food 3.8 stars. 22 % gave the school a 5.0.
How would you rate campus facilities?
66 Students rated campus facilities 3.9 stars. 30 % gave the school a 5.0.
How would you rate class size?
66 Students rated class size 4.4 stars. 55 % gave the school a 5.0.
How would you rate school activities?
66 Students rated school activities 3 stars. 6 % gave the school a 5.0.
How would you rate local services?
66 Students rated local services 3.8 stars. 26 % gave the school a 5.0.
How would you rate academics?
66 Students rated academics 3.8 stars. 33 % gave the school a 5.0.
Rhode Island School of Design REVIEWS
What's your overall opinion of Rhode Island School of Design?
13 Students rated Rhode Island School of Design
Elliott - 04/05/2024
I think the Campus in Rhode Island is Beautiful and has such a nice community and vibe given by not only the land but also the amazing people, awesome community, and on-campus support. The teaching that is provided looks and sounds amazing and for the price that sounds like a heavenly college to go to.
Megan - 07/19/2019
Rhode Island School of design is an amazing university to attend. The school has a lot of history and it neighbors the Brown University. Rhode Island School of Design encompasses a diverse group of people. There are many view points influenced by different cultural backgrounds. This diversity lends itself to spectacular collaboration and amazing projects. It's always a privilege to be amongst so many diverse and creative people. This has allowed me to not only to grow as a person, but also as an artist.
Matthew - 05/21/2019
i think that it is rediculous that almost every student does drugs
and not to mention they barley learn for all that money i dont think it is worth it
i have a kid who wants to come here and i say fuck no
i would shut down this school
and whats the point of doing this school you cant do anyhting with art
Ryan - 02/13/2018
Its a good art school, but foundation year is a little pointless and the work ethic needs to be there. There is a lot wrong with RISD, but one will find that out later as you enter the school. Don't worry too much about the academics as some of it is completely subjective, also just do your work and get into your major.
Augustina - 01/31/2018
The academics and the teachers are extremely worth it. Classes will push you to the breaking point -- physically, mentally, and emotionally-- but you definitely learn something. The academics are rigorous: 3-day-per-week classes ranging from 8-10 hours, with homework due roughly every week (professors expect at least 12 hours of work gone into each piece), alongside 2 day-per-week liberal arts classes with essays due frequently, alongside weekly lectures. Students are no doubt stressed, sleep-deprived, and angsty, and the social scene revolves round the classes-- want to escape for a bit and talk about literally anything else other than how much wood you need to lasercut or how much charcoal you need to buy? Good luck. Also good luck on trying to leave RISD; Providence is built around this school. With it being such a small student body in such a small city, it gets suffocating; rumors spread, gossip starts. Be careful for some drama.
Jeongki - 12/30/2017
I appreciate studying what I enjoy, and RISD has helped in finding me important connections related to my field of study (animation). While some of the students and faculty here are a hit or miss, I've made many positive connections. In terms of pursuing a career in the arts, I am quite happy about this school.
Natalie - 11/25/2017
I'm a junior at RISD. I'm extremely happy with my artistic growth, and excited to see how my friends and I will continue to develop as artists.
But I'm also MISERABLE. All the time.
How am I supposed to assign this school a certain number of stars? Here's my breakdown:
ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT: 5/5
I have learned SO MUCH from my teachers and peers. I've been lucky enough to work alongside all these talented students...I've made so many great friends, and studied under so many great teachers. Like, don't get me wrong—I've had my fair share of bad professors. But the good ones more than bridged the gap for me.
STUDENT HEALTH: 1/5
I'm giving a 1 instead of a 0 because I love the RISD counseling department. The people at Counseling and Psychological Services kept me in school (and out of crisis). I don't know where I'd be without their help. Beside the counseling department? F**k this school's work culture. Everyone I know is stressed. My friends are struggling with depression, executive dysfunction, eating problems, dissociation...You don't get a break at this school. Weekends exist in name only. Unless you get a line of easy teachers, you'll find yourself sleep-deprived. When you do scrape up some down time, this school makes you feel guilty for relaxing. Freshman year is particularly destructive because the workload is DESIGNED TO BREAK YOU. Is the artistic development worth the psychological strain? Honestly, I don't know. I never had to deal with derealization before I entered RISD, but now it's part of my life. Thanks, freshman year stress!
FEES: 2/5
I mean, I don't think this is the school's fault. Tuition rates are skyrocketing across the country. So I'll give the school some credit: I could be paying A LOT MORE than I am.
I come from a family that makes around $21,000 a year. In Montana, that's manageable. In Rhode Island—not so much. Thanks to a combination of scholarships and student loans, we're currently paying around $26,000 out of pocket a year. It's awful, and I don't know how we'll muster up the cash to get through another year—but again, it could be worse.
If you come from a poor family, you probably won't enjoy the additional material costs here. You'll have classes where teachers'll ask you to buy specific, expensive materials. THE GOOD NEWS: RISD offers a materials fund! You can submit an application, and the school can chose to fund your class project. Also, most of the teachers are willing to let you buy cheaper materials once you've explained your financial situation. They do care about their students.
SOCIAL LIFE/OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES: AHAHAHAHAHAHA
Like I said: You go to RISD, you get very little free time—unless you're the god of time management, and you can stay on top of a rigid schedule for 13 weeks without reprieve.
TO SUMMARIZE:
PROS:
-Fantastic artistic progression
-Great teachers and students = lasting connections
-Bragging rights??
CONS:
-Constant stress
-Your wallet will become an endless pit of darkness
-Throw your hobbies down a well because even when you do get time to do things you'll be plagued by guilt
If you want to ask a current student a question (I'm from the Illustration department, myself), feel free to email me at [email protected].
Adriella - 09/21/2017
Risd as a whole is a creditable school. Yet they are stingy with their money creating an elitist environment. Facilities and academics are top notch but any chance they get they will get money out of you. In term of professional staff, the diversity is low. A (non statistic) guess would be that 80% of the staff is white.
Jina - 08/08/2017
It is such a creative space. There is art everywhere. I was sitting at a bench close to the cafeteria planning out an assignment once during precollege, when I looked up at the giant tree above me and noticed that it had a colorful knitted cast around it, resembling a sweater of sorts. It is one of the special memories I hold from being there. I have never been more efficient nor has my work ethic ever been more consistent. The students are helpful and so interesting to hear about their lives before college. There is a new character to meet everyday. I cannot wait to start college in September and be in that space physically and mentally again.
John - 07/19/2017
RISD is a great place to grow as an artist and individual. Being around talented and driven peers helps inspire you to charge forward. It is truly amazing seeing amazing work all the time. In addition to the peers, teachers are helpful with encouraging you to form an opinion.
Alaijah - 05/29/2017
I think Rhode Island School of Design is an amazing creative and educational school. I am looking forward to going 2018.
Danielle - 02/24/2017
It's a fantastic school with great connection for budding artists. Sometimes still stuck in the way of the "rich, elite" artist in some fields, but a new younger generation of both students and professors are starting to change this slightly. It is hard for a student who comes from a low class background to get used to, but connections and resources at RISD are, for the most part, worth the price. Social groups within RISD are vast and house a unique group of students, varying from very quiet and professional to spontaneous, outgoing, and a little reckless. All group activities on campus are recreational, with no major obligations unless you lead one, which is nice when studios get to be a handful.
The fall 2020 acceptance rate for Rhode Island School of Design is 34%. That means, out of _____ applications received in 2020, _____ students were offered admission.
What should every freshman at your school know before they start?
I think I still would have done things the same way as I did. The only difference would be that I would have done things with a lot more confidence, in myself and my decisions. I wasn't sure if I was good enough or had the ability to do what I decided to do. However, following ones instinct is very important. I wish I followed my instinct, instead of testing the water.
What do you consider the worst thing about your school? Why?
RISD's mission statement highlights the schools desire to make a positive impact recognizing global and environmental needs and their importance. RISD fails from a green/eco perspective, many students do to know how to recycle, do not care to recycle and have blatant disregard for environmental concerns-(use of energy, basic recycling etc) the school does not actively educate nor require or acknowledge this problem. Publicly they claim to encourage and support green thinking yet they do little to educate students to common environmentally friendly principles. This goes against what RISD claims are it's common principles. False advertising.
Describe how your school looks to someone who's never seen it.
RISD is an environment where you are surrounded by people who, on the whole, know and care about what they're doing ; they are there because they want to be there and have put in the work to make it happen.
What do you brag about most when you tell your friends about your school?
It's ranked as number one, THE BEST art school. It is known as Harvard of Art School. Other school like SAIC is where all the shits who didn't get accepted to our school belongs!
If you are unsure if art is what you want to spend the rest of your life doing, then doon't come to this school. The intensive work ethic required to complete assignments and survive the multiple eight hour studios leaves no room for self doubt. If art is your life, RISD is perfect for you. When not in class, the large workload leaves little free time, which must be split between social life and work. So if you decide to attend, expect art to manifest itself in every part of your life.
What kind of person should not attend this school?
People that should not attend this school will posses little to none of the following characteristics listed below:
creative
open minded
understanding
adaptable
self motivated
determined
independent
enthusiastic
strong willed
studious
attentive
prioritized
oraganized
eager to take in everything
compassionate
Individuals that do not have all or most of these characteristic will find the school challenging. RISD is an outgoing campus that creates networks through the estabished artisitic community. It is an unique school, from its academic calendar to the excessive workload. The pressure is overbearing and can break many that are not ready to take on the task.
What's the one thing you wish someone had told you about freshman year?
I wish I knew how hard it would be to decide on classes at this school. I have a lot of interests and feel very lucky to have so many options, it has really helped me find my way and what I love to do with my artistic abilities.
Thankfully, RISD tends to only accept the top applicants. So unlike say, a state university which might be require to accept all students interested in a design or art subject, RISD can be pickier. A state university would then place this hodgepodge of freshman into a foundation class (if they even have one!) After a year of foundations, or other 100 level courses, they may or may not cut design and art majors based on GPA or maybe other factors (portfolio review). RISD reviews the quality of students coming in and along the way. But all those talented undergrads all take foundation at RISD. This builds camaraderie and is a foundation for study in a major for the remaining 3 years.
Is the stereotype of students at your school accurate?
Basically, none of the stereotypes are true. RISD students might come in looking like “outsiders” from high schools but deep in them all are some of the hardest working and most creative people in the world. These same people will be designing your car, building, product, book, iPad interface, identity design, everything! someday.
One unadvertised advantage is that RISD is directly next to Brown. RISD students can take Brown classes. So RISD is not only a top design and art school it is also a kind of Ivy League university all rolled into one. Brown students also have access to RISD but, note that Brown students do not get RISD degrees and are subject to the same minimal skill levels and prerequisites required for a particular course.
One possible advantage that is also a kind of disadvantage is that RISD is in a kind of amazing bubble all its own. It is hard to describe but, I guess all great schools are like this. The faculty, your fellow students, and the atmosphere is kind of off on its own. totally focused and really into the field you are studying. Other art schools might not have this intensity. Maybe they have more distractions being in more exciting cities or are in the boondocks/depressed cities and students are distracted with boredom. Providence seems to be just the right amount of college town. Not like Boston with hundreds of colleges in the metro area but, just a few (mainly RISD, Brown, and Johnson and Wales). Providence is also charming and livable (if always slightly high for petty crime, robbery, and burglary - a problem that seems endemic to Rhode Island. Never leave a thing in your car and rent a place with an alarm system!) It is also close but not too close to Boston (if needed) and a short drive or train ride to NYC.
All these factors create a kind of special atmosphere I have never seen at any other school except one or two in the U.S. and some in Europe.
The downside is that, to a certain degree, this is a fantasy world. Grasping at unrealistic solutions to complex problems. When students graduate, they realize, the profession they are entering is not at all like the RISD world. Their colleagues might not have loved typography or gotten as much of it as they did or other examples in other fields. So you find yourself surrounded by people at work who, well, are not as into design as you are. It can be a shock and you have to adapt and understand that, while at RISD, typography is God and was a God to be worshiped. But once you leave Oz, Xanadu, Skull Island, or whatever incredible place RISD was for you - you have to adapt.
What is the stereotype of students at your school? Is this stereotype accurate?
"strange people" or "Asian school and white school" or "popular rich school"
I don't agree with these stereotypes.. in fact i'm not rich at all... I just got extremely lucky and found a way into this school the best way I could.. Not everyone here is rich/ but their are a few.
All students must apply yearly for financial aid. This process starts with the FAFSA.
Though financial aid deadlines vary by school, it is a good idea to apply as soon as possible. For the upcoming school year, you can apply as early as October 1 for the FAFSA. Additional school aid will be dependent on the FAFSA results.
44% of students attending Rhode Island School of Design receive some sort of financial aid.
13% were awarded federal grants.34%received federal loans. Many students do also need to apply for additional private student loans.