Villa Maria College

Private · Moderately Selective · NY

Photo: Andre Carrotflower (CC BY-SA 4.0)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationNY · Northeast

SettingUrban

Undergrads603

Student:faculty10:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate23.3%

6-yr grad rate31.4%

Drop-out rate23.5%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$29k

Out-of-state tuition$29k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity55.7%

Gender diversity51.7%

International3%

IdentityRoman Catholic

Overview

Villa Maria College is a small Catholic college in Buffalo, New York, founded by the Felician Sisters with a mission centered on access and support for students who might not thrive at a larger institution. Its identity leans heavily toward the arts rather than a broad liberal-arts catalog.

Academics

The college's strongest programs are in art, design, and music — including animation, photography, and music industry — fields where hands-on studio and production work matters more than large lecture instruction. Class sizes are small across the board, consistent with the college's overall scale.

Campus & student life

As a small urban college, Villa Maria offers a compact, supportive campus community rather than a large-college social scene, with much of student life organized around the arts programs themselves — studio culture, performances, and exhibitions.

Getting in

Villa Maria's admissions process is access-oriented, with the college known for supporting students who need extra academic scaffolding, and portfolio or audition components matter for its art, design, and music programs.

Worth knowing

The Felician Sisters' founding mission continues to shape a support-first, small-scale approach to education, and the concentration in animation, photography, and music industry gives Villa Maria a specialized niche among Buffalo-area colleges.

villa.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate86.6%

Enrolled mid-50%—

Test policynot used

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

AdmissionRolling

Applying