MICA offers both an undergraduate major in history of art, design, and visual culture and a minor in art history. MICA's curriculum balances academic coursework and independent research with a significant studio component. Almost half of the total credits required for the major are in studio coursework, and majors are strongly encouraged to use their studio electives to pursue a concentration in a studio discipline.

In the four-year program, approximately half of a student's coursework is in academics and the other half is in the studio. The intensive studio practice integral to the BFA in History of Art, Design, and Visual Culture at MICA strengthens students' own art-making and informs their studies and research in art history with a deeper understanding of the art-making process.

Students in this major can take advantage of a rigorous liberal arts curriculum that offers the most diverse array of history courses at an art college, and more course offerings than many university-based art history programs.