2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts (Income $0-$30k) in Alabama

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Alabama For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

In 2019-2020, 36,854 people earned their degree in design and applied arts, making the major the 34th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, design and applied arts graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $29,542 and had an average of $27,114 in loans still to pay off.

Across Alabama, there were 288 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $34,400 and $28,271 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 201 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,191 and $26,651 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Alabama For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in design and applied arts. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent design and applied arts programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the design and applied arts program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Design & Applied Arts Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Alabama For Those Making $0-$30k” list, to help you choose the best school for 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. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Alabama For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Alabama For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts (Income $0-$30k) in Alabama

#1

Auburn University

Auburn, Alabama

#1 in overall quality

$18,394 Average Net Price

$37,896 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Auburn University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Alabama For Those Making $0-$30k. Auburn University is located in Auburn, Alabama and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 132 bachelors’s design degrees to qualified students.

Auburn did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Alabama” list. The estimated yearly cost for Auburn is $18,394 for Alabama Bachelor’s Degree Design students whose families make $0-$30k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 92%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at Auburn University

#2

The University of Alabama

Tuscaloosa, Alabama

#2 in overall quality

$19,322 Average Net Price

$41,565 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Alabama For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, The University of Alabama landed the #2 spot on the list. The University of Alabama is a public institution located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The school has a large population, and it awarded 44 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UA not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Alabama” list. It costs about $19,322 for alabama bachelor’s degree design students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend UA.

With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at UA

#3

Samford University

Birmingham, Alabama

#3 in overall quality

$21,953 Average Net Price

$30,409 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Alabama For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Samford University landed the #3 spot on the list. Samford University is a medium-sized school located in Birmingham, Alabama that handed out 21 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.

Samford also made our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Alabama” list, coming in at #3. It costs about $21,953 for Alabama Bachelor’s Degree Design students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Samford.

With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Samford University

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts (Income $0-$30k) in the Southeast Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts (Income $0-$30k)

Notes and References

References

• 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 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).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

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