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

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Design Schools in Alabama For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Design & Applied Arts is the 34th most popular major in the country with 36,854 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. 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.

This year’s “Best Value Design Schools in Alabama For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking analyzed 3 colleges that offered 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.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the design and applied arts program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Design Schools in Alabama For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Design Schools in Alabama For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for alabama design students whose families make $0-$30k.

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

#1

Auburn University

Auburn, Alabama

#1 in overall quality

$18,394 Average Net Price

$46,909 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 in Alabama For Those Making $0-$30k. Auburn is a large public school situated in Auburn, Alabama. It awarded 154 ’s design degrees in 2019-2020.

Auburn also made our “Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in Alabama” list, coming in at #1. It costs about $18,394 for Alabama Design students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Auburn.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 92%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Auburn

#2

The University of Alabama

Tuscaloosa, Alabama

#2 in overall quality

$19,322 Average Net Price

$44,897 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend The University of Alabama. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Design Schools in Alabama For Those Making $0-$30k list. This large school is located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and it awarded 44 ’s design degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UA, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in Alabama” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UA is $19,322 for Alabama Design students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full UA Design & Applied Arts Report

#3

Samford University

Birmingham, Alabama

#3 in overall quality

$21,953 Average Net Price

$57,458 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Samford University. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Design Schools in Alabama For Those Making $0-$30k list. Samford University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Birmingham, Alabama. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 21 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Samford also took the #3 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in Alabama” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Samford University is $21,953 for alabama design students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low student loan default rate of 2.6% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at Samford University

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