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2024 Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in Rhode Island

3 Colleges in Rhode Island
159 Design Degrees Awarded
$37,141 Avg Early-Career Salary
Design & Applied Arts is of the hottest degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #36 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 3 schools in Rhode Island to determine which ones were the best for design & applied arts students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 159 degrees in design & applied arts during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Design & Applied Arts School

Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in Rhode Island The design program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Design & Applied Arts rankings. We derive our Best Overall Design & Applied Arts School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Pick Your Design & Applied Arts Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Design
Bachelor's Degrees in Design

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in Rhode Island ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

Best Schools for Design & Applied Arts in Rhode Island

Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the design degree levels they offer.

Top Rhode Island Schools in Design

1
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
73 Design Degrees Awarded
$46,625 Median Starting Salary

Rhode Island School of Design is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in design & applied arts. RISD is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Providence.

Design & Applied Arts degree recipients from Rhode Island School of Design earn a boost of approximately $9,485 above the average earnings of design & applied arts majors.

More information about a degree in design & applied arts from Rhode Island School of Design

2
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
73 Design Degrees Awarded
$27,656 Median Starting Salary

New England Institute of Technology is a great option for students pursuing a degree in design & applied arts. New England Tech is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of East Greenwich.

After graduating, design degree recipients usually make around $27,656 in their early careers.

More information about a degree in design & applied arts from New England Institute of Technology

3
RIC crest
Rhode Island College
Providence, RI

It's difficult to beat Rhode Island College if you wish to pursue a degree in design & applied arts. Located in the suburb of Providence, RIC is a public college with a medium-sized student population.More information about a degree in design & applied arts from Rhode Island College

Best Design & Applied Arts Colleges in the New England Region

Explore all the Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the New England Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Massachusetts 301 885
Connecticut 241 241
New Hampshire 210 456
Maine 202 24
Vermont 194 99

View All Rankings >

Design & Applied Arts is one of 10 different types of Visual & Performing Arts programs to choose from.

Design Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Illustration 73
Game & Interactive Media Design 41
Graphic Design 31
Interior Design 14

View All Design Focus Areas >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts 279
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 104
Drama & Theater Arts 82
Music 72
Dance 13

View All Design Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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