Financial Aid & Scholarships

Tuition

The cost of tuition for the 2025-26 academic year for the MFA in Dance is $985 per unit. The requirement for completion is 60 units, bringing overall tuition costs to $59,100 for the base program.

Financial Aid

Apply for FAFSA

If you haven’t already, be sure to apply for federal aid through FAFSA using SMC’s school code: 001302. MFA in Dance students at Saint Mary's are typically eligible for two types of federal student loans, Graduate and Graduate Plus.

Regular Grad loans cover up to a certain amount of tuition and Grad Plus can be used to help cover the remaining costs of attendance, including housing. Typically, most domestic students end up being eligible for these loans even with average to below average credit. 

Apply for FAFSA

Learn More About SMC Graduate Financial Aid

As a professionally-oriented graduate program, we strive to offer both manageable degree completion timelines and flexible course plans to accommodate our students and their many commitments both in and outside the classroom. With that in mind, the MFA in Dance at Saint Mary's uses the following unit course loads to consider a student's part-time/full-time enrollment status and Financial Aid eligibility:

• Half-time is defined as 3 units in Summer, 3 units in Fall and Spring semesters
• Full-time is defined as 6 units in Summer, 5 units in Fall and Spring semesters

Scholarships

Distinction in Creative Practice Award

Our program currently offers a limited number of partial tuition scholarships to incoming students in the form of tuition reduction. These scholarships cover the amount of 1 unit per term for a total of 9 terms in the program. Interested students can apply for this Distinction in Creative Practice award by submitting an additional essay while applying to the program (located in the "Additional Requirements" section of the application) or by sending the scholarship essay directly to Collin Skeen at cas38@stmarys-ca.edu. In order to be considered for this scholarship in Summer 2025, students must have submitted their SMC Dance application and scholarship essay by the Priority application deadline.

Distinction in Creative Practice Award Essay: To be considered for this scholarship, please submit an additional essay of up to 1,000 words. The Distinction in Creative Practice Award is given to incoming Masters in Fine Arts Dance students who have demonstrated academic excellence and engagement throughout their undergraduate and/or professional career. The MFA in Dance's mission is for the quest for truth, the authenticity of living, and the building of a community where sensitivity, social justice, and global awareness are at the core. Please write an essay explaining how you have built community around these areas in dance.

Graduate and Professional Student Development Funds

Some funding is also available for independent research and professional development in the form of grants through the Graduate & Professional Student Research and Development Fund. Learn more here.

Student Employment Opportunities

Part-time and full-time student positions are generally advertised on Handshake or around campus. Handshake can be accessed through your student portal.