20 Best Mfa Programs In New Orleans, LA (2022 Updated)

I guess time will tell what rating Tulane's SoPA deserves, but I can't say I was 100% satisfied. I'm glad I did it. It felt good to use my brain again. My advisors were always helpful. But for the sake of reviewing the whole thing and giving feedback, I have three criticisms that kept it from being five stars. The first one might seem petty, but when I was considering Tulane, I was told that after six credits, the seventh was free. That was the policy my first year. It was discontinued after that one year due to a whole reconfiguration. It went from continuing studies to professional advancement, and that every-seventh-credit-is-free went out the window, just when I was enrolling in my sixth and seventh credit. So that seemed like a bad business deal. After that, I took a couple online classes that I felt were totally worthless. I also had a couple online classes that were great, but the bad ones made me question the worth of my degree. Then, lastly, I wish I wouldn't have felt like such a Tulane also-ran. It felt like JV Tulane sometimes. For instance, I could've chosen an IT degree with an emphasis on business, but the business classes wouldn't have been through Tulane's more prestigious business school, but rather through a night school in Elmwood with nothing in common with the real one. Real Tulane students can use the Reily Center, but not us. Why not? Hope this helps someone. . .Edward Pope

My entire experience with Tulane's School of Professional Advancement (SOPA) was outstanding! This was one of the most challenging and rewarding academic endeavors I have faced to date. It started with my first discussion with the SOPA Professor of Practice and Director Emergency and Security Studies who convinced me that the program was designed for professionals like me who have limited free time and many obligations outside work. The faculty pushed me and solicited my input from my military experience and time in the corporate world. The staff were always very helpful and genuinely cared about my satisfaction. I was also pleased at the level of effort the faculty placed on offering career suggestions and passing on job opportunities to the students. My experience in this program and the bonds formed with the faculty and staff exceeded my expectations. I am forever grateful and wholeheartedly endorse Tulane's SOPA! Col (ret) Jordan Jones.Jordan Jones

I feel very strong and secure in what information I'm receiving at Tulane. They have shown me that even after having a family, I can still continue my education and follow my dreams of becoming an attorney. The support I received from my director and the administrators are outstanding. They really want their students to survive the path of going to college and become very successful in life. I am thankful for Tulane and the many instructors that take the time to teach.Demetra Dixon-Lawrence

I really enjoy attending Herzing University I feel the right choice of choosing this school. My classes are great and so are the Professors. There are lots of resources to get through your classes and the Professors are super helpful.Jennifer Byous

Herzing University helped me to realize my dream of practicing as a family nurse practitioner. With engaging faculty and intellectually stimulating courses, it's no wonder students are successful! Go Herzing!Jessica Manchester

This is the best school in the nation in my opinion! I wish I could live here for the rest of my life… Now do I think about it, I’ve been here for way too longNguyen Xuan Hung

Wonderful experience I had here. . . watercolor classes. The small size means more personal instruction and input from the excellent instructors. I wish there were more art academies like this, especially where I live now. I couldn't have asked for more. I learned so much, and staff was so kind.J Nooney

Went for a drawing class and it was great, no complaints there. Very sweet instructor, good vibes from classmates, and it gave me a good foundation. Just kinda small.Nick

I truly had a wonderful academic experience. I valued the guidance of my professors and other persons who truly cared about me as both a student and a human being. I have fond memories of this beautiful campus and epic center of learning. .Michele A.

I love this place because I am a 13 year old and I all ready see myself going to this college I also have people that I look up to to prepare my future life as a basketball player number 32 on the Dillard bleu devils women basketball teamAlaysia Paratore

I'm a rising senior in the nursing program and I love it. The faculty and staff strives to give us everything we need to be successfully. This is a community full of love ❤️.Ceiandra

Great University in New Orleans where you can and will receive a QUALITY EDUCATION. As do most state schools, they’re underfunded, understaffed & seemingly have a high turnover rate; in my opinion. HOWEVER, when it comes to education, they’re #1!!! No spoon feeding, hand holding over here; if you want it, you have to WORK for it. The struggle is REAL. But upon graduation or course A/B level grade course completion, you will know the material FORWARD AND BACKWARDS. Not bashing other universities, but a UNO Degree holds weight; here you get OUT WHAT YOU PUT IN!!!! I pray for more funding; this university is a treasure and need not be lost due to bureaucratic red tape.Teneha B

My son is a music major there – is there a better place to study music than New Orleans? He loves the department and is getting lots of hands-on experience. Ponchartrain Hall is the nicest dorm I have ever seen – a palace compared to the places I lived "back in the day." And it's the least expensive of the state schools – he could be living far from home and paying a LOT more the privilege and not be getting as good an education as he's getting at UNO.John Baur

Run-down school that has little quality in food, living, education, and staff. The expensive cost doesn't garner any neat benifits like other schools. The only saving grace of this university is it's pretty decent film school or engineering program, which would be more beneficial if they were their own independent institutions. If your major is not in one of those two programs, seeking education somewhere else is highly recommened.Dustin “dR4A” Foret

Reading all the comments only tell half the story. I've read about bad dorms. Well didn't Howard university just have it's students sleeping outside due to rat infestation and mold? Does spelman have a/c in most of it's dorms yet? Nope not at all. I've read about the school being about money and that financial aid was not very professional. What hbcu isn't? Most all hbcu's biggest gripe is the financial aid office. That's the reason a lot of people transfer to pwis is because of the financial aid process. A lot of the views presented here are misleading to potential applicants. It shine a negative light on Xavier, for the very same issues most hbcu's are facing. That being said. What education did you get? And was the education worth it in the end is what we really need to knowAnthony Hector

I remember this being the first college I attended. I was the first in my family to go to college so I wasn’t aware of much , but there was staff to help us… Well , this man helped me and we were on a website and he was just telling me everything to click and what to “approve” . Come to find out this man made me accept about 10K in student loans, but for only 1 semester!!! ,Unfortunately this money did not even go toward my classes but to the freshman dorm I lived in ( very dirty ) . I wish he would of explained more to me . I didn’t find out until being at the school for a little while & checking my credit karma .Queenqueen Queen

Xavier University of Louisiana is one of the rapidly growing HBCU institutions. Known for its excellent tract record for producing medical field specialists, especially pharmacists, it is a place where every student willing to seek frequent interactions in class can grow immensely professionally and socially as a contributing model citizen.Isaac Belonga

I am currently a graduate nursing student. This has been the profound educational experience I have had in my life. The professors are impeccably knowledgeable and well versed in their areas of expertise. I went back to school to become more marketable in my profession. My impending degree from Loyola will give me the confidence in my career that I am seeking along with speaking volumes to potential employers who welcome an employee with a Loyola degree..Linda Davis

Choosing to attend Loyola University New Orleans was the best decision that I have ever made. Here you will find that there is a true community of compassion for students. Additionally, the faculty is approachable and always willing to go the extra mile for their students. Loyola wants to see its students succeed and because of the care and compassion that we receive here, we do succeed. Thank you Loyola. Best 4 years 🙂Natalie Masone

Loyola University is great college! Is it a perfect college? No. I very much enjoyed my time there. It has a compact campus, but a large park across the street, which gives one an excellent balance between the urban and the rural! Also, while there I learned , that authentic Christianity is the free response to Jesus Christ. May I savor this for the rest of my life!John Caron

the staff is so ridiculously incompetent. the advisors never answer emails, sometimes ill send an email and wait a week for a response and never get one, so ill send another email, and another, and another, and finally get a response that most of the time doesnt even answer the full question being asked. different staff members will also tell you conflicting information, leaving you confused on what you’re supposed to do. you can never get ahold of anyone to help you. my boyfriend went here as well and was given the wrong schedule of classes which ended with him needing to attend an extra semester to take the class he actually needed. also they practically have new advisors for each major every year, and they never tell you when your advisor has changed or even update the website, so you just have to email the old one 40 times before they finally answer and tell you who you’re supposed to be emailing. if you dont like being stressed and confused all the time i recommend u just go somewhere else!Mia Carbo (Meyuh)

I have been a student here for 2 years and I have no idea how they have any students. No matter how early you submit financial aid they process at the last minute. At least twice I have had to contact the department of education to explain changes on my student aid that they could not justify or explain. As of today it has been 1 solid month trying to get someone on the phone to ask questions about my financial aid which has been submitted 2 months ago but still not processed. When you do manage to get someone on the phone they are rude and often give conflicting information from one department to the next. The excuse is always that they are swamped with calls, which to me is an invalid excuse! If that many calls coming in they should use the money collected from tuition to hire more people to answer the call of the students paying their salary.This will be my last semester at this school! Completely unacceptable!Stacy Harris

Their financial aid office is absolutely HORRIBLE! I was first approved for aid that I apparently don't qualify for. Once approved, it later disappeared, and I was never notified that I wasn't qualified for it. After learning my classes weren't secured, I only was able to get in touch with the financial aid office through their live chat online, and I'd been trying to get in touch via email and phone for days beforehand. They do not answer phone calls or emails, which I find extremely unprofessional. After finally getting in touch with them, I learn I qualify for a different financial aid package, approve it, then it disappears again. Turns out, Im not qualified for that either and was again never notified. If you have to deal with their financial aid office, good luck!A H

The Instructors are VERY!!! Unorganized, They mix their classes up with one of their other classes ! Very Unprofessional. This is my 2nd semester and its been so different from what im use to at a different college in which I graduated. Worst teacher there is Boris Odynocki He write sloppy on the board, very condescending, his views about women are awful, such as he speaks of them being gold diggers often, he show favoritism on how he grade it has nothing to do with classwork,test or attendence!Maria Charra

I believe in sharing life experiences & knowledge, good and bad so with that understand it is imperative to share my personal experience with what I must say is the worst education institution in the City of New Orleans. Unorganized, unprofessional, uncoordinated and undeserving of anyone's time and/or tuition. Do yourself a favor and ask the hard question and then ask the harder questions and follow your gut feeling. You will save yourself and family a lot of heart ache and stress.Michael Lewis

A 1 star rating is way too much and considerably nice of me. Unorganized, unprofessional. You can tell the administration is only there to collect a paycheck. No one there seems to be on the same page. They will lose paper work and when you try to speak with a supervisor, you'll have to email and call daily and you MAY just get a response in 2 weeks. Save your money. You'd do better going to an online school then to deal with these folks.Nicolette Marie

Four years of intellectual stimulation and excellent company in a supportive and lively environment. It was less pricey in my day (the 1966-1970 tuition was $750.00 per semester), but a Tulane degree is still good value. For me, Tulane was a formative experience. I majored in French, and learned valuable skills for later life, including literary criticism, poetry translation, and the French language. I still use my French, now I am retired. I participate in several francophone and francophile organizations in New Orleans. As well, my courses in Theatre and English literature have stood me in good stead. I am now a performance poet, and perform frequently at the Neutral Ground Coffee House and at the Maple Leaf lBar, and other venues in town and in Louisiana.Robert Menuet

Even if you are not interested in attending Tulane University, I strongly recommend visiting it. The tour of the school gives you some knowledge about how the young adults of New Orleans take part in the community and how much of the things you are touring are actually run by students. My family and I were not expecting to actually be considering Tulane for college, but we all fell in love with the campus instantly. The guides were very knowledgable about the school and also about the community of New Orleans. It was nice to hear the perspective of a younger person instead of an adult who grew up in New Orleans about what the best parts of the city are. Touring Tulane is a MUST for anyone visiting New OrleansVictor Hills

Everyone was really good except for Dr Jiang. She was very unprofessional, she need to be more compassionate, understanding, and courteous to the patients' family. I chose not to allow them to put a feeding tube in my father because he is still capable and able to eat, she was very unhappy with my decision and retaliated with an unpleasant attitude and refused transportation. I had to go talk to security and and then speak with the nurse to get transportation to come and take my dad down to the car. One bad apple can spoil everything. Some doctors should not be doctors and need a new profession.Carla B

Sent our 8 month old for a single day before pulling her out. Was able to pick her up without showing ID (folks had never seen us before), got no feedback or timeline about the day so had no clue what sleep hours were etc, none of her food had been touched, the teacher to baby ratio is very high and looked unmanageable, the afternoon care consists of one teacher and a student. Also the babies sleep in the same bright room as where the awake ones are playing, and there was currently no outdoor time at all so they spent all day in the same room. Overall this institution is extremely overpriced for what they actually provide. Better options out there at much lower cost. When we notified them about our issues and that we were pulling our daughter out, they acknowledged our comments and said they would pass them along to the relevant teachers, before adding that we would still be charged for the full month. They went on to say they were technically allowed to charge us for another 5 months according to their tuition policy. What a joke.Irfaan Parker

This place deserves zero stars. My niece attended Lilly House for a few months, so I know how terrible they were. I feel bad that my niece ended up going to a place that ended up being such a terrible experience for her. The school is clearly understaffed, they don't have enough people to give proper care to the toddlers. Because they don't have enough staff, they end up asking high schoolers to volunteer. This is something that we were never told would happen. They don't even mind checking with the parents about certain things that are done in school. I couldn't trust high school girls taking care of my niece. On top of that, some teachers are known for shouting at the kids.. so it's just horrible. Would never recommend this place to any parent.Virginia Morejon

Do not send your kid here if you truly love them and value where they get their education from. Ursuline Academy is a poisoned school filled with Caucasian racists that the administration feel deserve everything they are given due to the good grades they earn. They have had many racial incidents before I attended this school, while I attended the school, and of course after I graduated from the school. These incidents have all been reported to administration and they have refused to comment and continue to let this behavior infiltrate their school! Once again, do not pay thousands of dollars for your kid(s) to be in a cult that swears they advocate for diversity and inclusion when allowing xenophobic individuals to roam the halls.Terryce Boseman

Do not attend school here. The absolute worst experience I have ever had. They only care about getting your money and nothing more. If you have a child do NOT bring them or you will be asked to make them completely quiet or leave. Staff is plain rude. For a school with the Virgin Mary all over the place, they hold none of her ideals. The school simply needs to change from a Catholic School or be shut down.Walter Diaz

I went here for information about their Masters program. It was very informative, organized, and I felt welcomes. They served hot food and drinks. I am an alumni already, but this college never ceases to amaze me.Mitchells Making Memories

I will never attend Holy Cross College again!!! The instructor attendance is horrible. She lies about not receiving your assignments.Andrea Taureyon

Jesuit is without a doubt the best high school in the state. The school produced 12% of the state's national merit semifinalists (Class of 2018). The average ACT score far exceeds the national average and those of other local schools. Their top notch academics more than adequately prepare students for college, and several students go on to attend Ivy League schools afterwards. In addition to stellar academics, the school lays a solid foundation for students to become Men of Faith and Men for Others. I, as a student, learned the philosophical foundations of my Catholic faith through study of Aristotle, Aquinas, Plato, and Augustine. I've grown in my faith and benefited tremendously from the academic side. Incredible school!Juan Pablo

Our son went to Jesuit and got a good well rounded education that allows him to have a job today in the 6 figure range. He took AP courses and had 15 hours credit when he started at LSU. The Jesuits are the finest, most intelligent group of theologians you could find. We were glad we entrusted them with our son for 5 years. I volunteered at the school and met a wonderful group of women who became my good friends.Lacey Wilson

I am writing under an alias to keep my identity safe. I go to Jesuit and I can tell you it is one of the worst places in the world. It is full of crude, bigoted, and down right awful ! I would send my child there just as soon as I'd send a cat into a dog pound! It's the worst place you could ever go. Have a nice day! And if you go to Jesuit and you're one of the few good people, good luck!John Smith

Wish I could give more than 5 stars. I've had 3 daughters go to school here. The youngest went to the academic studio. Great arts school, Great academic school. The thing that you notice immediately, is that everyone there WANTS to be there. This includes the students, teachers, administrators, etc. This place is like no other high school I've ever seen.The Company

My daughter is a senior at NOCCA. She attends both the Academic and Dance Programs. This is a great arts school for any child looking to pursue their art. Great Dance Faculty who puts a lot of time and effort into their students. They are very active and resourceful when it comes to the college decision process. The Dance Show is a Must See!Alvin Jimenez

Attending N.O.C.C.A. was one of the happiest times of my life. I was incredibly lucky to get to get to go there. I hope N.O.C.C.A. remains a staple of my city for centuries to come and if you are a kid privileged enough to attend, soak in every moment and remember just how lucky you are.Joel Farrelly

Incredible faculty, facilities and learning experience. I observe that the detractors have chosen to be anonymous. I doubt they truly have a Holy Cross education because they would have learned to be accountable for their actions and used their real names. Below is the Mission & Purpose statement for Holy Cross NOLA. I can verify they operate from this document. Louis Relle, Jr. The Shared Values of Holy Cross: A Holy Cross education is a process which… * Engages the whole man: mind and heart, body and soul * Challenges a young man to learn habits of the mind and habits of the heart: * The competence to see and the courage to act * To think critically * To make informed choices * To take risks *To own the consequences of his actions * Finds its best expression as service to others rendered by men with hope to bring * Is guided by educators in the faith – Parents, Faculty, Staff, and Directors – empowered to build a community of the coming kingdom * Rooted in a family legacy, which nurtures trustworthy friends and lasting brothers Looking ahead, we see a school that is: * Regarded as one of the most unique in metropolitan New Orleans * Willing to continually renew itself by seeking new ways to articulate these shared values through a sequential curriculum and a comprehensive activity program * Known for the quality of parental participation * Defining success in terms of the useful lives of its alumniLouis Relle

There is one word to describe Holy Cross…STELLAR! In every possible way, Holy Cross strives for excellence spiritually, academically, athletically…but with the emphasis on CHARACTER building. In the 5 years we have had son and 3 grandsons at Holy Cross, we have come to appreciate the supreme sacrifices and effort the faculty makes to ensure that these young men leave Holy Cross with a sense of who they are that comes ONLY from daily examples they can emulate and learn from. Thank you, Holy Cross, for setting the bar in Christian education as high as it can be set…and still make it an adventure the young men truly hate to leave behind when graduation day arrives! THANK YOU!Vera Ferry

Holy Cross claims to build character in their students; however, they have failed on several occasions. There have been several incidents regarding HC students that made local news headlines. In one case, two underage students were drinking on Bourbon St. A white student referred to a black student with a racial slur, which led to a fight. One student found himself in a coma as a result. In another instance, a student punched a police officer. Furthermore, they fail to perform well academically, and their students often have subpar ACT scores. Don't waste your money here.Ceasar Yanchovich

A much-needed institution in the NOLA art scene. The center hosts artists in residence seasonally, and consistently has incredible artists creating work in the gorgeous studio spaces. Events include open studios where guests can meet artists and experience their work. A must visit!Leslie-Claire Spillman

Great space for artists​. It's an​ artist residency program. Artist spend a few months working on various pieces. Artist come from all over the world. They also host a monthly community coffee and arrist visual mashupRaymond Sweet

It's great to have this beautiful art center in our already vibrant arts neighborhood where artists from elsewhere can become a part of our community and we can become a part of their creative journey.Robert Nehlig

I recently hosted an event at Yaya and loved it! Mari (who's in charge of events) was so helpful and provided a great setting for our event to run smoothly. We used the courtyard space and set up food, a bar and a DJ. It was kid friendly which was super helpful and there were plenty of places for our guests to sit and mingle. We had Bougie Balloons come set up a wonderful installation on the gate which set the tone for a festive evening for our guests. I would highly recommend booking Yaya for an event!Nicole Hershey

I took the 2 hour glassblowing class. It was great! Gathered molten glass on a punty, learned to form it, pull it into a flower shape, and add a couple leaves. Then I got to blow some glass to make a simple tumbler. Also tried making a large colored 'marble', but it takes more skill than I have after 2 hours to make it nice and round. Very interesting class. Got to watch some glass artists do their stuff, too.Bill Mackin

Awesome nonprofit, integrated within the community and youth. Also a very cool building and outdoor space — perfect for a private event or wedding.Lindsey Reynolds