Vermont College of Fine Arts

About

Type: Private nonprofit, 4-year
Location: Montpelier, Vermont
Website: www.vcfa.edu

This collegeRanked colleges nearby

Setting: Distant town
Nearest major city: Albany, about 130 mi
Nearest international airport: Portland International Jetport (PWM), about 120 mi

Montpelier, Vermont

Also known as: VCFA
Academic calendar: Semester
Religious affiliation: Not applicable
President: Andrew Ramsammy (Interim President)
Phone: 8028288600
City: Montpelier, Vermont
Address: 36 College St, Montpelier, VT 05602

School and Program Rankings

U.S. News school and program rankings · Click a school to see its programs, and a program for its full ranking

Graduate Rankings · 2026 edition

Fine Arts#92

Ranks in blue are top 10 · ▲▼ change from the previous edition · “—” means no overall ranking for that school · Medical schools are ranked in tiers since the 2025 edition

Degrees & Majors

Graduates in 2025 (first major)

Master's1086 international (5.6%)

Popular graduate programs

Creative Writing · Master's86 (7% international)
Music Theory and Composition · Master's7 (0% international)
Cinematography and Film/Video Production · Master's6 (0% international)
Graphic Design · Master's5 (0% international)
Fine/Studio Arts, General · Master's4 (0% international)

All majors, graduates and earnings IPEDS · College Scorecard

*Depends on whether majors have graduates in 2025 or not, Yes / No
**Move mouse on can check deitaled graudates number, click for major detailed information
***Due to privacy policy, graduate salaries are not shown for some majors that has few gradautes

English has 86 graduates in 2025
Major	Graduate Salary	Master
Creative Writing.	-

Visual and Performing artshas 22 graduates in 2025
Major	Graduate Salary	Master
Graphic Design.	-
Cinematography and Film/Video Production.	-
Fine/Studio Arts, General.	-
Music Theory and Composition.	-

Students

190 students in 2025

Graduate students 190

International Students

International share over the last 10 years · gray line: median of all 406 private master's colleges and universities in the U.S.

Graduate students3.2%

6 in 2025 · 2.5% in 2016

2016Peer median 2.2%2025

Cost

Finances · fiscal year 2024

Revenue$6.4M

Tuition and fees

$4.1M64.3%

Gifts and private grants

$1.6M25.9%

Auxiliary enterprises

$425K6.7%

Investment return

$18K0.3%

Other

$178K2.8%

Expenses$10.7M

Academic support

$3.6M34.2%

Institutional support

$2.9M26.9%

Instruction

$1.7M15.7%

Auxiliary enterprises

$1.1M10.7%

Student services

$833K7.8%

Public service

$96K0.9%

Other

$402K3.8%

Campus Life

Athletics and varsity athletes NCAA · EADA

No athlete data available for 2025.

No athlete data available for 2024.

No athlete data available for 2023.

Nearby & Safety

Ranked colleges nearby

Campus safety · incidents per 1,000 students

0.0 2016

0.0 2017

2.6 2018

0.0 2019

0.0 2020

0.0 2021

2.9 2022

0.0 2023

391.0 2024

0.0 2025

Peer median 4.0 · all 406 private master's colleges and universities in the U.S.

Incidents, 2023–2025

Liquor referrals

191

Drug referrals

85

Motor vehicle theft

11

Burglary

10

Rape

2

Aggravated assault

2

From the Clery Act campus safety reports schools file, covering on-campus, non-campus and public property.

Notable Alumni

Notable alumni of Vermont College of Fine Arts include Abiola Abrams (Author, podcaster and motivational speaker), Holter Graham (Actor and voice actor) and Clarence Major (Poet, painter and novelist).

Abiola Abrams 1976–

Author, podcaster and motivational speaker

Also attended: Sarah Lawrence College
Holter Graham 1972–

Actor and voice actor

Also attended: Skidmore College
Clarence Major 1936–

Poet, painter and novelist

Also attended: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Becky Birtha 1948–

Poet and children's author

Also attended: University at Buffalo
Wally Lamb 1950–

Novelist, author of She's Come Undone

Also attended: University of Connecticut
Charles Herbert Joyce 1830–1916

Former U.S. representative from Vermont and lawyer
Patricia Spears Jones 1951–

Poet

Also attended: Rhodes College
Barbara Fiske Calhoun 1919–2014

Cartoonist and painter from comics' Golden Age
Julie Berry 1974–

Author of children's and young adult books

Also attended: Simmons University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

More alumni (14, by field)

Politics and law

Debora Pignatelli 1947–

Former New Hampshire Executive Council member

Also attended: University of Denver, Northeastern University

Science and academia

Darrell Kipp 1944–2013

Historian and Blackfoot language teacher

Also attended: Harvard University, Montana State University Billings
Norbert Hirschhorn 1938–

Physician, co-developer of oral rehydration therapy

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Arts and media

Lucinda Bliss 1965–

American artist, writer and educator

Also attended: Skidmore College

Mother: Alison Hawthorne Deming (Stanford University, Vermont College of Fine Arts)
Jennifer McMahon 1968–

Novelist

Also attended: Goddard College
Lauren Myracle 1969–

Young adult fiction writer

Also attended: Colorado State University-Fort Collins, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Michelle Knudsen 1974–

Children's author of Library Lion

Also attended: Cornell University
Martine Leavitt 1953–

Young adult novelist and writing teacher
Tim Seibles 1955–

Poet and former Poet Laureate of Virginia

Also attended: Southern Methodist University
Marjorie Welish 1944–

Poet, artist and art critic

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York, Norwich University
Scott Campbell 1945–

Writer and MIT architecture school communications director

Also attended: Boston University, Ohio University-Main Campus
Kekla Magoon 1980–

Young adult author, 2021 Margaret Edwards Award winner

Master of Fine Arts

Also attended: Northwestern University
M. Rickert 1959–

American writer of fantasy fiction
Alison Hawthorne Deming 1946–

Poet, essayist and Regents Professor Emerita

Also attended: Stanford University

Child: Lucinda Bliss (Skidmore College, Vermont College of Fine Arts)

From Wikidata “educated at” records (including people who attended without graduating), ordered by the number of Wikipedia language editions. Degrees and years follow Wikidata and are left out where it has none.

References and Data Sources

Data from IPEDS (U.S. Department of Education), U.S. News, THE, QS, ARWU and Clery Act campus safety reports. Data insights are written by the Forward Pathway data team from public data.