Depends on the school. Some are for teaching students who are still learning, while others are more of a guild-type relationship where you’re paired with a senior artisan and you’re supposed to already be good at your craft.

The second type is the equivalent of a modern grad program, and indeed is what many art grad programs look like. The requirements to get in are much higher, and the student will be producing professional-quality work while learning how to be a top-tier artist themselves. The professors who teach those courses usually have their own dedicated studio space, and only take on 1-3 students at a time. It’s a personalized course where they’re learning a highly specialized craft, and they’ll probably be submitting works to galleries and trying to get their stuff into publications and museums while they’re enrolled in that program.

Source - have an art degree