Massachusetts College of Art and Design (also known as MassArt) is a publicly funded college of visual and applied art, founded in 1873. It is one of the oldest art schools, the only publicly funded free-standing art school in the United States, and was the first art college in the United States to grant a degree. The college is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. MassArt is also a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD), a consortium of 39 leading art schools in the United States.Among the nation’s 39 independent schools of art and design, MassArt is the third most selective in undergraduate admissions and second most selective in graduate admissions, ranking among the ten most competitive colleges in Massachusetts, both public and private.In 2006 was named one of the by BusinessWeek magazine.(http://bwnt.businessweek.com/dschools/2006/)MassArt offers a Bachelor Degree in Fine Arts, a Master of Science in Art Education, a Master of Fine Arts, and in 2007 received Candidacy Status for a Master of Architecture. It also offers a number of pre-college (both credit and non-credit) programs for high school students. Students at MassArt have the option of majoring in Fine Arts, 2D, Fine Arts, 3D, Communication Design, Environmental Design, Media and Performing Arts, and Art Education. Within those majors they can choose to focus on disciplines such as Industrial Design, Art History, Fashion Design, Architectural Design, Graphic Design, Illustration, Animation, Painting, Printmaking, Ceramics, Glass, Sculpture, Fibers, Metals, Photography, Film/Video, and in the Studio for Interrelated Media (SIM). MassArt's curriculum includes a foundation year, which provides compulsory exposure to the basics of 2D and 3D art and design, and requires an elective studio and multiple Critical Studies (academic) courses.