The two year, full-time Master of Fine Arts in Lighting Design is a four-semester, 64-credit-hour program. 52 credit hours are in lighting-specific subjects, including four 6-credit Lighting Design Studios that provide foundations in the intellectual, aesthetic, and technical components of lighting design. The curriculum emphasizes that human physiological and psychological needs are central to all lighting design projects and encourages students to understand critical values associated with their engagement in the built and natural environments.

The design studio sequence is complemented by a series of technology courses as well as classes in the cultural, historical, and perceptual aspects of lighting design. The curriculum includes 9 credits of elective coursework.

Students in the program typically have undergraduate degrees in design-related fields, and the graduate curriculum assumes a basic level of ability in architectural drawing, rudimentary building-related skills, algebra, and trigonometry.