Undergraduate Programs

Get Your Bachelor’s Degree

Find Your Creative Path at ECU

We offer three distinct undergraduate degrees, all built to challenge you, expand your skills and prepare you for a future in the creative industries:

Bachelor of Fine Arts
Bachelor of Design
Bachelor of Media Arts

Explore our Undergraduate Programs

Foundation Year

All of our degrees begin with a Foundation year.

It’s your chance to explore different art, design and media courses, spark your creativity and uncover your passions and strengths.

Close-up of a person drawing colorful abstract sketches with markers in a notebook.

Accelerated Summer Foundation Program

People view a gallery wall filled with skateboard decks, each painted with unique and colorful artwork.

Foundation Year

Majors

2D+ Experimental Animation

3D animated scene of a young girl with red hair in a bun, wearing a green striped shirt, sitting at a school desk and looking up with a curious expression. A sheet of paper with drawings lies in front of her, with crayons on the desk. Behind her are blue lockers labeled with names, a bulletin board covered with children’s drawings, paper butterflies, and a globe.

3D Computer Animation

Two attendees at an art exhibition view books mounted on a white wall. From behind, one person with brown hair in a bun and a light green clip holds a small sketchbook with comic-style drawings. The other, with vibrant blue-green hair in a ponytail and a pink shirt, gently touches an open book displaying handwritten text and sketches. Several other colorful, fanned-out books are displayed on the wall as part of the installation.

Communication Design

Digital collage with abstract yellow paint splashes over a grayscale portrait, cotton plants, and swirling textures.

Critical + Cultural Practice

Students reviewing camera settings on a film shoot.

Film + Screen Arts

Illustration

Three people sitting and smiling on a geometric wooden play structure with climbing nets, positioned outdoors in front of a modern campus building.

Industrial Design

A futuristic digital artwork of a neon-lit city street at night, filled with holographic billboards, social media posts, and glowing signs in multiple languages. The scene is vibrant, crowded with text, and cyberpunk in style.

Interaction Design

An installation with six small CRT monitors on pedestals, each displaying colorful visuals, with black-and-white abstract imagery projected on the back wall. On the right wall, a vibrant, distorted color projection spills across a branch of leaves arranged on the floor.

New Media + Sound Art

Photographic exhibition showing large portraits of people’s backs and profiles, printed on black backgrounds and suspended from the ceiling in a gallery space.

Photography

Person in a pink shirt and cap sits at a paint-splattered desk, smiling and extending their tattooed arm. Art supplies and colourful paintings surround the workspace.

Visual Arts Major

Minors

Close-up of suspended wooden letters hanging from strings, spelling words backward as they are viewed from behind. People are blurred in the background, engaged in conversation in a gallery space.

Art + Text

Group of students engaged in a critique session in front of colorful paintings, one student gesturing toward the work while others listen attentively.

Curatorial Practices

Artist wearing glasses and headphones paints on a wall covered in colorful push pins arranged in patterns, part of an installation.

Ecological Design Practice

A triptych of watercolour paintings showing fences and barriers interwoven with plants and natural growth. The panels feature gridded tiles, a chevron wooden gate, and chain-link fencing overgrown with vines, exploring the meeting of human-made and natural structures.

Ecological Practices in Art

Person wearing a black dress stands behind and beneath a sheer black veil decorated with colorful fabric flowers, partially obscuring their face and body.

Social Practices + Community Engagement

Unique Course Tracks

Creative Art Pathway

Left image: A fragment of cracked glass with handwritten text in black ink that reads: “cracked light seeps out my screen transfixed I peer through the window strangers voices fill my head.” The cracks in the glass create a web-like background. Center image: A digital composition featuring the word “ESCAPISM” written vertically in bold black letters, with each letter beginning a phrase, such as “anxiety spinning around,” “walking under daylight,” and “maximize my fear.” Concentric rectangles frame the text, with a scribbled doodle near the top. The name “Julia Li” appears at the bottom right. Right image: A screenshot of a Twitter draft on a dark background with white text that reads: “Embarassing deadaSs cut the Camera i Am a victim of Physical exlstence greaSy Materiality.”

Writing

Begin With a Strong Foundation

Every student kicks things off with a Foundation Year, where you’ll dive into a mix of art, design and media courses. It’s a year to play, take risks, and connect with a community of creatives who are just as curious as you are.

From there, you’ll choose a major and start building the technical skills, critical thinking and creative confidence that carry you through second, third and fourth year. And with access to ECU’s tremendous Shops + Studios, you’ll have the tools and space to bring even your wildest ideas to life.

Program Highlights

Canada’s Top Art + Design University: Ranked #1 in the country, ECU offers a globally recognized degree and a community of about 2,000 undergrad students who live and breathe creativity.
Graduate with a Major + Optional Minor: Pair your degree with a minor and explore ECU’s abundant electives to stretch your practice in unexpected directions.
Showcase + Industry Connections: Share your work at exhibitions like The Show and make real-world connections with the creative industries you’re heading into.

How to Apply

Tuition + Support

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