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2024 Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in California

12 Colleges in California
1,198 Visual Arts Degrees Awarded
$26,951 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on majoring in general visual & performing arts, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #116 in the country in terms of popularity. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

College Factual looked at 12 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,198 degrees in general visual & performing arts during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great General Visual & Performing Arts School

Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in California The visual arts program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for General Visual & Performing Arts rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for general visual & performing arts schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

General Visual & Performing Arts Rankings by Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Visual Arts
Bachelor's Degrees in Visual Arts
Master's Degrees in Visual Arts
Doctor's Degrees in Visual Arts

The visual arts school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in California. You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.

In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.

More information on how we come up with our rankings can be found here: College Factual's Data Methodology.

Best Schools for General Visual & Performing Arts in California

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

10 Top California Schools in Visual Arts

1
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
49 Visual Arts Degrees Awarded
32.7% Growth in Graduates

It's difficult to beat University of Southern California if you wish to pursue a degree in general visual & performing arts. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were about 49 general visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the visual arts program earn about $18,394 in their early career salary.

More information about a degree in general visual & performing arts from University of Southern California

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
99 Visual Arts Degrees Awarded
$22,195 Median Starting Salary

Any student who is interested in general visual & performing arts needs to take a look at University of California - San Diego. Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #38 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UCSD is a great university overall.

There were roughly 99 general visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the visual arts program earn an average of $22,195 for their early career.

More information about a degree in general visual & performing arts from University of California - San Diego

3
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
52 Visual Arts Degrees Awarded
7.7% Growth in Graduates

It's hard to beat Otis College of Art and Design if you want to pursue a degree in general visual & performing arts. Otis College of Art and Design is a small private not-for-profit college located in the city of Los Angeles.

There were approximately 52 general visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at Otis College of Art and Design in the most recent data year. Those general visual & performing arts students who get their degree from Otis College of Art and Design make $9,580 more than the standard visual arts grad.

More information about a degree in general visual & performing arts from Otis College of Art and Design

4
Academy of Art University crest
Academy of Art University
San Francisco, CA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
63 Visual Arts Degrees Awarded
$29,556 Median Starting Salary

It is hard to beat Academy of Art University if you want to pursue a degree in general visual & performing arts. Academy of Art University is a moderately-sized private for-profit university located in the large city of San Francisco. This university ranks 37th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 63 general visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at Academy of Art University in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the general visual & performing arts major at Academy of Art University get $2,605 above the average graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in general visual & performing arts from Academy of Art University

5
USFCA crest
University of San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
18th Most Popular In CA
28.6% Growth in Graduates

Located in the large city of San Francisco, USFCA is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #164 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means USFCA is a great university overall.

There were roughly 14 general visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at USFCA in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in general visual & performing arts from University of San Francisco

6
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
59 Visual Arts Degrees Awarded
$25,472 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large suburb of San Marcos, CSUSM is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 75th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 59 general visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at CSUSM in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the visual arts program state that they receive average early career income of $25,472.

More information about a degree in general visual & performing arts from California State University - San Marcos

7
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
9th Most Popular In CA
48 Visual Arts Degrees Awarded

Located in the suburb of Azusa, Azusa Pacific is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. This university ranks 43rd out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 48 general visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at Azusa Pacific in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in general visual & performing arts from Azusa Pacific University

8
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
83rd Most Popular In CA

UCR is a fairly large public university located in the city of Riverside. A Best Colleges rank of #213 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCR is a great university overall.

There were about 1 general visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at UCR in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in general visual & performing arts from University of California - Riverside

9
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
51st Most Popular In CA

Located in the city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #161 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means San Jose State is a great university overall.

There were approximately 4 general visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at San Jose State in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in general visual & performing arts from San Jose State University

9
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
14th Most Popular In CA
40.0% Growth in Graduates

CSUCI is a moderately-sized public university located in the midsize suburb of Camarillo. This university ranks 104th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 20 general visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at CSUCI in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in general visual & performing arts from California State University - Channel Islands

Best General Visual & Performing Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best General Visual & Performing Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 300 13
Oregon 266 66
Nevada 192 20

View All Rankings >

One of 10 majors within the Visual & Performing Arts area of study, General Visual & Performing Arts has other similar majors worth exploring.

Visual Arts Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Visual & Performing Arts 975
Digital Arts 223

View All Visual Arts Concentrations >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts 6,526
Design & Applied Arts 4,575
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 4,258
Music 3,612
Drama & Theater Arts 3,040
Dance 538
Arts & Media Management 315
Other Visual Art 83

View All Visual Arts Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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