The USC School of Cinematic Arts will discontinue its Expanded Animation Research + and Practice — also known as XA — Master of Fine Arts program effective June 30, according to an email sent to students Feb. 19.
Current first-year students in the program can still achieve the degree by taking substitute classes or transferring to another School of Cinematic Arts program, SCA Assistant Dean of Student Services Marcus Anderson wrote in the email.
Since 2022, Expanded Animation’s cutting-edge curriculum has offered students individualized experimental animation education across various media. It incorporates animation with live action, robotics, installation and artificial intelligence, according to its SCA webpage. The short-lived program also recently produced a gold winner in the 2025 Student Academy Awards in the alternative/experimental category.
Expanded animation faculty publicly announced the news Friday via social media posts.
“Despite these achievements, the university has determined that the program is not financially viable,” a post from USC Expanded Animation Research + Practice on Instagram and Facebook read. “While we respectfully disagree with this conclusion, the decision is final.”
In a statement to Annenberg Media, SCA attributed the program’s termination to declining enrollment.
“The university regularly reviews the curriculum of all of its degree programs to offer the exceptional education opportunities for our students in an evolving environment,” SCA Associate Dean of Communications Kristin Borella said in a statement. “Current students will be supported in the John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts and other SCA programs to complete their degrees.”
Program Director Sheila Sofian said the Expanded Animation MFA had attracted external funding and a rising number of highly qualified applicants worldwide. She said faculty were not consulted prior to the decision.
Sofian said she worked with Kathy Smith, Lisa Mann, Everett Lewis, Maks Naporowski and Professor Emerita Christine Panushka to develop the expanded animation curriculum, which focused on pushing the boundaries of animation practice.
“There’s a lot of trauma,” Sofian said. “This took everybody off guard. Nobody saw this coming.”
The termination decision was communicated to program members on short notice. Sofian said, of the four full-time expanded animation faculty, two tenured faculty were informed Wednesday in individual meetings with SCA Dean Elizabeth Daley and Vice Dean of Academic Affairs Michael Renov. Another two full-time, non-tenured faculty were also notified in individual meetings with SCA Vice Dean of Faculty Akira Lippit and Senior Business Officer Steve Adcook, expanded animation professor Lisa Mann wrote in an email to Annenberg Media.
At 6:04 pm Wednesday, Anderson emailed current students an invitation to a virtual meeting the next morning without detailing its purpose.
According to students who attended, Renov announced the program’s closure during the virtual meeting on Thursday. Anderson and Nicole West, chair of the John C. Hench Division of Animation & Digital Arts, were present, though Daley and the expanded animation faculty were not.
Sofian later announced the change to the adjunct members after realizing they had not been included in the initial communication.
Third-year MFA students can finish the program without interruption, Anderson wrote in a follow-up email to students. The Hench Division will lead curriculum review for second-year students as they continue their thesis, Anderson added.
Meanwhile, first-year students will be guided individually on their future options, Anderson wrote in the email, adding that he advised first-year students to explore options — such as transferring schools or substituting courses — by the first week of March. Graduate students’ fall semester course registration begins on March 23.
NamQuyên Le, an expanded animation student, said the faculty has helped her balance the three-year program and full-time work. She said it was “brazen” for Renov to refer to the termination as a business decision during the meeting.
“That goes against the ethos of why we came to study with XA,” she said. “We are here to use art for good.”
“I am beyond furious and heartbroken as to how XA faculty and staff have been treated,” Le said. “When all they’ve done is poured a heart and life’s work into helping me and my classmates become the best artists and researchers possible.”
Sofian said faculty had already selected a newly admitted cohort who were set to start in the fall semester. On Friday afternoon, Anderson notified Fall 2026 applicants that the program would close, according to an email obtained by Annenberg Media. The school will withdraw their admissions and issue refunds, the email said.
The program first began accepting Hench Division transfer students for animation before opening public applications in 2022, Sofian wrote in a follow-up email to Annenberg Media. It currently enrolls 10 first-years, eight second-years and five third-year students.
While Hench Division focuses on traditional animation industry training, Sofian said expanded animation focused on “preparing creative leaders.” The first externally admitted cohort is set to graduate in May.
Judy Zhao, a first-year student, said she rejected other offers specifically because of the expanded animation program’s faculty and resources.
“I’m very disappointed in USC, the School of Cinematic Arts, for dropping such a program that is so innovative and moving forward in the field of experimental animation,” Zhao said. “It just sucks that this educational institution that is so big is, in my opinion, disrespecting these talented students.”
According to the faculty social media statement, tenured faculty will be offered the option to be reassigned or retire, while contract-based faculty and staff positions will be eliminated.
Sofian said international students will be disproportionately hurt.
“They left their homes, they left their families, left everything to come here for this program that they were promised, and now that’s being taken away from them,” she said.
Zhao called on the school to issue a formal explanation and provide current students with concrete plans to complete the original program.
On Friday afternoon, expanded animation faculty hosted a virtual meeting with current students to process the news. Alumni from around the world joined after learning of the closure, Sofian said.
“It was an incredible meeting,” she said. “I’m so proud of these students.”
Xindi Zhang (‘25), the expanded animation alumna who won gold at the 2025 Student Academy Awards last fall for her thesis, said she was shocked by the news.
“The faculty would always support us emotionally — on Friday, it was the other way around,” she said. “I’d never seen our faculty lose their composure like that; they were all speechless.”
Zhang added that she believes the program had immense potential in both artistic and commercial spheres.
First-year expanded animation student Xinyi Nie said faculty offered students tailored support based on students’ personalities and artistic styles.
“I never could have imagined meeting so many inspiring mentors and peers,” Nie said. “Though it’s only the sixth month since I joined the program, I have found such deep bonds in this tight-knit community. We are all grieving this change.”
Correction: A previous version of the story left out three faculty members’ engagement in developing the expanded animation curriculum. It has been updated to reflect professor Lisa Mann, Everett Lewis and Maks Naporowski’s involvement.