The Drawing Department serves as both a foundation for all other departments and a resource for upper-level electives. It also offers a vigorous, in-depth program of study for those choosing a major in drawing. The course of study for drawing majors is intentionally broad and open. In all, students have 14 electives, some of which are open to any studio department and others that are restricted to painting, printmaking, or drawing.

The underlying strength of the drawing program is in the mid-level studio courses. All students, except for those majoring in photography, environmental design, and graphic design, are required to take a life drawing and a studio drawing course. It is strongly recommended that these courses be taken in the sophomore year, because the intellectual capacities in judgments about formal relationships that these courses develop are, in every sense of the word, a prerequisite to higher-level work in one's own major. In keeping with the department's philosophy, these courses are woven around subjects that have played central roles in the traditions of western art: the nude, still life, interiors, landscapes, nature study, the portrait, composition, and others. In the upper-level studios, drawing courses are more varied and esoteric, encouraging personal expression and inviting visual experimentation and imaginative solutions.