The first two years of the program involve intensive course, laboratory, and studio work at Buffalo State College. The third and final year of the program consists of a year-long internship at a museum, institution, or private practice. At the end of the internship year, students return to campus for a presentation, at which time they receive both the MA degree as well as the CAS (Certificate of Advanced Study).

First-year students take courses in paintings, paper, and objects. This interdisciplinary approach enriches students’ experience and provides excellent training for the problem solving necessary in conservation. Second-year students also work in all areas, but emphasize their chosen areas of specialization. All students complete four course sequences in examination and documentation techniques and conservation science. This information is integrated into second-year specialization projects.

Student projects are based on objects brought into the department during the annual Conservation Clinic, or belong to local museums such as the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Buffalo Museum of Science, the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society, and others. Professors and students work together to select appropriate individualized projects.

Buffalo State students are introduced to conservators from all over the United States through the guest lecture program, which allows the department to invite specialist visitors on a weekly basis. Guests usually present a lecture to all students, then conduct a workshop for second-year students on a specialized topic.

The program emphasizes the importance of understanding and respecting the aesthetic and cultural significance of artifacts requiring conservation, the scientific and technical means of identifying and understanding the materials employed in the fabrication and conservation of artifacts, the knowledge of the mechanisms of deterioration, and the procedures of conservation documentation.

The Art Conservation program encourages career-long professional development and emphasizes the responsibility to contribute to the continuing evolution of the conservation profession. The department supports the American Institute for Conservation's Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice in defining professional conservation activity.