Formerly known as the school of painting, the now named National Academy of Arts is a high-quality higher education center, specialized in the field of art, and located in the capital city of the republic of Bulgaria. This university was established in 1896, more than 130 years ago by some of the most famous painters of that time, such as Ivan Mrkvicka and Anton Mitov. The main campus of the university was built in the early years of the 20^th century and has evolved into being one of the best and most inspirational buildings in the whole world. One of the professors of the university actually says that here, students don’t learn only in class, but also from the walls and corridors.

This university has played a significant role in the preservation of the culture of the country and made great contributions to it in the last century. By educating the most famous and most important artists of Bulgaria in the past decades, this university has done much more cultural and social activities than any other university at Eastern Europe.

The university is a relatively small university, having less than 2000 students enrolled in its programs. There are only 2 faculties and 6 departments with less than 200 professors at this university.

Advantages

The main advantage of this university is the galleries and exhibits that it organizes every couple of months. These exhibits are incredible socio-cultural happenings that emphasize various aspects of Bulgarian culture. The best and most eminent artists of the country and even Eastern Europe take part in these events and present their work to the world.

Another important advantage of this university is that it is one of the active Bulgarian universities in the Erasmus plus program. The university accepts foreign students with open arms and encourages its students to join other art academies around Europe to benefit from their experience.

The other advantage of this university is its vast web of relations with various organizations. The university is a professional partner of most Bulgarian municipalities and provides work force and innovators for these organizations.

Since 2005, there is an educational foundation, called St. Pimen Zografski foundation. This foundation’s main responsibility is to support students financially and provide living and research grants to art academy’s students. Other than that, the foundation has also helped a lot in the reconstruction of the educational buildings of the campus. It also helps the university to organize and plan different events and exhibits, both in and out of the university.

Student life

For every individual, studying or visiting this university, it has special things planned. The organization and nature of the university would never let any body get bored or tired. This university tries to keep its students highly motivated in a warm and friendly environment prepared in the main campus.

The university has its own museum, which is one of the oldest museums in the country. This museum is the oldest and the largest art collection the whole country and exhibits the works of several incredible painters and artists which can be inspiring to younger students.

The university library is also one of the places designed with students’ intentions in mind. The library contains thousands of books, all specialized in different sub-fields of arts. There is a publishing center at the university where students can easily and comfortably publish their articles and present it to their fellow scholars all around the world.

The university tries to provide the best conditions and opportunities for its students by managing and organizing many exhibits, shows, and other art related happenings. This university is over all one of the most important social organizations in the republic of Bulgaria.

University Ranking

As one of the oldest higher education centers in Bulgaria, this university has gained valuable experience and curved its way to the top of the list of the best Bulgarian universities. This university is the 10^th best university in Sofia, 30^th best university in Bulgaria and 8120^th best university in the world according to Edurank website. Unirank website has also ranked them among the best universities of Bulgaria and put them in 36^th place in the country. It is also among the top 8000 universities in the world according to that website.

Faculty of Fine Arts:

Home to the oldest department of the university, the department of painting, and the largest faculty by size and number of students, the faculty of fine arts is a masterpiece in the Bulgarian scale. This faculty consists of 9 departments, the most popular of which are the painting department, department of book, and the department of Psychology of art. Students who get a BA or MA at this faculty would be eligible to teach at Bulgarian schools at various levels.

Faculty of Applied Arts:

This faculty is the most popular faculty of the program and offers high-quality courses with European standards to its students. The faculty consists of 11 departments. Department of Fashion and department of Industrial design are among the most popular departments of this university that attract thousands of students every year. These departments have agreements with many organizations in Bulgaria and other parts of the world.

Admissions and application requirements

• IELTS Certificate
• Passport
• Student visa
• Supervisor Agreement Form (PhD)
• Proof of fee payment
• Declaration for financial support
• Letters of reccomendation (MA, PhD)
• Application fee
• Resume/CV (graduate, postgraduate)
• Online Application form
• Research proposal outline (MA, PhD)
• TOEFL Certificate
• Motivation Letter
• Health and Life Insurance

Why Sofia National Academy of Art?

Dating back to 19^th century, the National Academy of Art of Bulgaria is a higher education center in Sofia specialized in the field of arts, offering high quality programs to its students. This university consists of 2 departments, one specialized in fine arts and the other in applied arts. These faculties offer unique and world-class programs to the students of the university. The main campus of the university consists of all the needed facilities for a convenient academic life. The main campus includes a museum, art galleries and practice centers for students. This university has been home to many of the great Bulgarian Artists and has hired most them to teach at its departments. Students can use the experience of these great men, and have an incredible education at this university.