Kathmandu University School of Arts

The School of Arts (SOA) at Kathmandu University, established in 1996, is one of the seven schools at the University. It was founded to provide education in liberal arts, music, media, and social sciences, aiming to produce skilled professionals capable of contributing to the nation's development.

Admission Open for MA in History and Philosophy (MAPH) Kathmandu University

ClosesJuly 24, 2025

Admission Open for BA-EMCJ and BMS : KUSOA

ClosesAugust 31, 2025

ABOUT

The School of Arts (SoA) is one of the seven schools of KU. It was established in 1996 to impart education in humanities and social sciences. The School's main campus is situated at Hattiban, Lalitpur. The School currently offers four-year Bachelor level programs in Media Studies, Music, Fine Arts, Community Development, Economics and Buddhist Studies, and two-year Master programs in Media Studies, Fine Arts, Urban Studies, Human and Natural Resource Studies, Development Studies, and Ethnomusicology. Other Bachelor level programs such as Bachelor in Development Studies and Development Finance are being run at affiliated colleges in Kathmandu.

Vision

Education for promoting ideals of social and economic justice and well-being for all persons and their environments.

Mission

Promote professional knowledge, understanding and skills in the development of arts, culture, and other social and economic potentials of human resources through

scholarly activities, critical thinking, analysis and communications
practical interventions, assessments and evaluations
integration of social, economic, political, cultural and environmental components of development.

Salient Features

Departments and Courses of KU School of Arts:

KU Department of Languages and Mass Communication: it is located in Hattiban premises of School of Arts. It offers following courses:
1. Bachelor in Media Studies (BMS)
2. Masters in Media Studies (MMS)
KU Department of Development Studies: it is located in Hattiban premises of School of Arts. It offers following courses:
1. Masters in Development Studies
2. Bachelor in Community Development
3. Bachelor in Urban Studies
4. Master in Human and Natural Resource Studies
Kathmandu University Department of Music is located at Chupin Ghat, Bhaktapur. It offers Undergraduate, Masters and PhD programs in Music.
1. Bachelor of Arts in Music (BMus)
2. Master of Arts in Music (MMus)
Kathmandu University Department of Art and Design
Kathmandu University Independent Academic Programs at KUSOA
1. Bachelor in Economics (BECON)
2. Bachelor in Yogic Sciences and Well-being (BYSW)
PhD Programs
1. PhD programs are available in most of the departments

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS

Main Highlights and Features

Four-year duration
Semester system
Well-equipped multimedia lab and studio Good teacher-student ratio
Community focused courses
Provision of internship
Multimedia classrooms
Multiple field visits and tours
Interdisciplinary programs
Research projects
Library with online resources
Scholarships
On-campus job (internship) opportunities
Student exchange programs
Interdisciplinary credit exchange (up to 9 credits) Credit-transfer facility

GRADUATE PROGRAMS

Main Highlights and Features

Two-year duration
Semester system
Well-equipped multimedia lab and studio
Good teacher-student ratio
Provision of internship
Multimedia classrooms
Multiple field visits and
Interdisciplinary programs
Research projects and Dissertation
Library with online resources
Scholarships
On-campus job (internship) opportunities
Student exchange programs
Credit-transfer facility

Admission Guidelines

Qualified candidates can apply for admissions at the payment of Rs. 1000.00 (non-refundable fee). The Department conducts written test for the applicants and calls for interview after the results of the written test. But due to this pandemic KUSOA has been taking the KUSAAT exam and interview via online. A final result is published for the successful candidates calling for the enrollment.

Evaluation Methods

Students will be evaluated on four-point scale using letter grades as follows:

Grade	A	A-	B+	B	B-	C+	C	C-	D	F
Grade Point	4	3.7	3.3	3	2.7	2.3	2	1.7	1	0

SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION

KU SOA Scholarship

It is focused for meritorious and needy (economically weak) students successfully admitted in KU UNG programs. For each 24 fee paying students, student will be admitted on full or partial scholarship(equivalent to the fee of one student).This scholarship is provided to 1st year students at the time of admission, first time on need basis and then based on their academic performance reviewing annually. They need to maintain a minimum total GPA of 3.0 to continue in each academic year. Also, it will not be regular for students who have to appear compartmental exams and who does not maintain discipline.

KU Educational Loan

Under this category, an educational loan will be provided to the selected students enabling them to meet 25% to 50% of total fees charged by the university. This educational load depends on available fund in each UNG program of SOA as per KU rule. It is required that the student must sign a contract paper with the university (as a bond paper) for its refund. Other conditions are same as that in KU scholarship. The number of this educational loan offered in this scheme depends upon the available scholarship fund which in turn is dependent on the return/payment of the loan received by students in earlier years.

Procedures for Application and Awarding of Scholarships:

General information on scholarship and financial schemes will be announced during the admission time.
Application form will be distributed during online admission.
Application form, with all necessary supporting documents has to be submitted as specified in the Financial Support Scheme form.
Interview of the applicant will take place during the admission time.
Decision of the award of the scholarship/financial support will be made before the candidate is admitted to the program.
University reserves the right to select the appropriate candidate from among the applicants.