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2024 Best Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools

91 Colleges in the United States
1,931 Master's Degrees
$52,263 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on getting your master's degree in design & applied arts, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #72 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual looked at 91 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,931 master's degrees in design & applied arts during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Design & Applied Arts School for Your Master's Degree

Best Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools The design master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality design program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we include a college's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a combination of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for design & applied arts students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Design Rankings Other Ranking Categories

The design 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 Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Design & Applied Arts in the United States

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for design & applied arts students seeking a a master's degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

15 Top Schools for a Master's in Design

1

Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in design & applied arts needs to check out Carnegie Mellon University. Carnegie Mellon is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Pittsburgh.

Design & Applied Arts master's degree recipients from Carnegie Mellon University receive an earnings boost of about $37,493 above the average earnings of design & applied arts graduates.

More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from Carnegie Mellon University

2
2 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in design & applied arts has to take a look at University of Notre Dame. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Notre Dame.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from University of Notre Dame

2
28 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat The University of Texas at Austin if you want to pursue a master's degree in design & applied arts. UT Austin is a fairly large public university located in the city of Austin.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from The University of Texas at Austin

3
10 Annual Graduates

Washington University in St Louis is a good option for students pursuing a master's degree in design & applied arts. WUSTL is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Saint Louis.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from Washington University in St Louis

4
21 Annual Graduates

University of Southern California is a great choice for individuals pursuing a master's degree in design & applied arts. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from University of Southern California

5
6 Annual Graduates

UCLA is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Los Angeles.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from University of California - Los Angeles

6

MICA is a small private not-for-profit college located in the city of Baltimore.

Students who graduate with their master's from the design program report average early career wages of $43,714.

More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from Maryland Institute College of Art

7

Pratt Institute is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Brooklyn.

Students who graduate with their master's from the design program report average early career earnings of $51,744.

More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from Pratt Institute - Main

8
New School University crest
The New School
New York, NY

Located in the large city of New York, New School University is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Design & Applied Arts master's degree recipients from The New School get an earnings boost of about $4,164 over the typical earnings of design & applied arts majors.

More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from The New School

9
11 Annual Graduates

Iowa State is a very large public university located in the small city of Ames.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from Iowa State University

10
17 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Boston, Northeastern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from Northeastern University

11
Syracuse crest
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY
10 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized city of Syracuse, Syracuse is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from Syracuse University

12
UF crest
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL
4 Annual Graduates

UF is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Gainesville.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from University of Florida

12
7 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from Purdue University - Main Campus

13
Boston U crest
Boston University
Boston, MA
18 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Boston, Boston U is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from Boston University

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
14 Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus Atlanta, GA
15 Savannah College of Art and Design Savannah, GA
16 Yale University New Haven, CT
17 Academy of Art University San Francisco, CA
18 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN
19 Auburn University Auburn, AL
20 Northwestern University Evanston, IL
20 University of Washington - Seattle Campus Seattle, WA
21 George Washington University Washington, DC
22 University of Delaware Newark, DE

Design & Applied Arts by Region

View the Best Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

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

Design Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Visual Communications 481
Other Design & Applied Arts 343
Interior Design 244
Graphic Design 230
Illustration 194
Industrial Design 180
Game & Interactive Media Design 121
Fashion Design 103
Commercial Photography 21
Commercial & Advertising Art 14

Related Major Annual Graduates
Music 5,778
Fine & Studio Arts 2,984
Drama & Theater Arts 1,611
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 1,610
Arts & Media Management 1,115
General Visual & Performing Arts 343
Dance 245
Other Visual Art 215
Crafts, Folk Art & Artisanry 13

Notes and References

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