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2024 Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in New York

17 Colleges in New York
610 Visual Arts Degrees Awarded
$21,339 Avg Early-Career Salary
A degree in general visual & performing arts is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #116 out of 395 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

College Factual looked at 17 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in New York ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 610 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 New York 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. For our Best Overall General Visual & Performing Arts School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that 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

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in New York list to help you make the college decision. More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Read more about College Factual's methodology.

Best Schools for General Visual & Performing Arts in New York

If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the visual arts degrees they offer, see the list below.

10 Top New York Schools in Visual Arts

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
17th Most Popular In NY
30.0% Growth in Graduates

Any student who is interested in general visual & performing arts needs to take a look at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Located in the small city of Troy, RPI is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #106 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means RPI is a great school overall.

There were about 10 general visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at RPI in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in general visual & performing arts from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

2
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
24th Most Popular In NY

Any student pursuing a degree in general visual & performing arts needs to take a look at Columbia University in the City of New York. Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Columbia is a great university overall.

There were approximately 5 general visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in general visual & performing arts from Columbia University in the City of New York

3
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
67 Visual Arts Degrees Awarded
$16,975 Median Starting Salary

Queensborough Community College is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in general visual & performing arts. Located in the large city of Bayside, QCC is a public college with a medium-sized student population. This college ranks 79th out of 142 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.

There were approximately 67 general visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at QCC in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, visual arts degree recipients typically make about $16,975 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a degree in general visual & performing arts from Queensborough Community College

4
Brooklyn College crest
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn, NY
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
30th Most Popular In NY

Brooklyn College is a great choice for students pursuing a degree in general visual & performing arts. Located in the large city of Brooklyn, Brooklyn College is a public college with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #511 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Brooklyn College is a great college overall.

There were approximately 2 general visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at Brooklyn College in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in general visual & performing arts from Brooklyn College

5
Syracuse crest
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
30th Most Popular In NY

Located in the medium-sized city of Syracuse, Syracuse is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #132 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Syracuse is a great university overall.

There were about 2 general visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at Syracuse in the most recent data year.

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

5
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
24th Most Popular In NY

CCNY is a large public college located in the large city of New York. A Best Colleges rank of #563 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means CCNY is a great college overall.

There were approximately 5 general visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at CCNY in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in general visual & performing arts from The City College of New York

6
SUNY Oneonta crest
SUNY Oneonta
Oneonta, NY
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
50 Visual Arts Degrees Awarded
16.0% Growth in Graduates

SUNY Oneonta is a moderately-sized public school located in the remote town of Oneonta. This school ranks 73rd out of 142 colleges for overall quality in the state of New York.

There were approximately 50 general visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at SUNY Oneonta in the most recent data year. Those general visual & performing arts students who get their degree from SUNY Oneonta make $7,680 more than the standard visual arts student.

More information about a degree in general visual & performing arts from SUNY Oneonta

7
Purchase College crest
Purchase College
Purchase, NY
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
10th Most Popular In NY
$27,000 Median Student Debt

Located in the suburb of Purchase, Purchase College is a public college with a small student population. A Best Colleges rank of #898 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Purchase College is a great college overall.

There were about 21 general visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at Purchase College in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in general visual & performing arts from Purchase College

8
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
46 Visual Arts Degrees Awarded
$19,014 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of New York, BMCC is a public college with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #600 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means BMCC is a great college overall.

There were approximately 46 general visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at BMCC in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the visual arts program earn about $19,014 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a degree in general visual & performing arts from Borough of Manhattan Community College

9
SUNY New Paltz crest
SUNY New Paltz
New Paltz, NY
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
45 Visual Arts Degrees Awarded
$28,650 Median Starting Salary

SUNY New Paltz is a medium-sized public school located in the suburb of New Paltz. This school ranks 62nd out of 142 colleges for overall quality in the state of New York.

There were approximately 45 general visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at SUNY New Paltz in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the general visual & performing arts degree program at SUNY New Paltz earn $7,311 above the typical college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in general visual & performing arts from SUNY New Paltz

Best General Visual & Performing Arts Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

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

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Pennsylvania 334 204
Maryland 279 98
New Jersey 273 180
District of Columbia 188 16

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 335
Digital Arts 275

View All Visual Arts Concentrations >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Design & Applied Arts 4,452
Fine & Studio Arts 3,405
Drama & Theater Arts 2,842
Music 2,351
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 2,006
Arts & Media Management 688
Dance 372
Other Visual Art 344

View All Visual Arts Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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