2025 Best Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in Colorado

If you pursue a associate degree in design & applied arts, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #19 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 2 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in Colorado ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 100 associate degrees in design & applied arts to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Early-Career Earnings

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their associate degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their associate degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on design & applied arts students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other design & applied arts students want to attend this school to pursue a associate degree.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for design & applied arts to pay back their student loans after receiving their associate degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized design & applied arts related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for design & applied arts students working on their associate degree.

More Ways to Rank Design & Applied Arts Schools

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 Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in Colorado list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Design & Applied Arts in Colorado

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in design & applied arts.

Top Colorado Schools for an Associate in Design

1

Arapahoe Community College
Littleton, CO

50 Annual Graduates

$32,100 Median Starting Salary

Arapahoe Community College is a good option for students interested in an associate degree in design & applied arts. Located in the large suburb of Littleton, Arapahoe Community College is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their associate from the design program state that they receive average early career earnings of $32,100.

More information about a associate in design & applied arts from Arapahoe Community College

2

Front Range Community College
Westminster, CO

14 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in design & applied arts has to look into Front Range Community College. FRCC is a fairly large public college located in the large suburb of Westminster.More information about a associate in design & applied arts from Front Range Community College

Best Design & Applied Arts Colleges in the Rocky Mountains Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Utah	147	262
Idaho	143	14
Wyoming	128	22
Montana	92	24

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Design & Applied Arts Related Rankings by Major

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

Design Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Interior Design	49
Graphic Design	35
Commercial Photography	11
Game & Interactive Media Design	5

Most Popular Majors Related to Design

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	57
Drama & Theater Arts	5
Music	3

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard). More about our data sources and methodologies.