2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Making $30-$48k

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 Colorado For Those Making $30-$48k” 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 Colorado, there were 347 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $31,350 and $24,232 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 200 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,261 and $25,672 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking looked at 4 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in design and applied arts. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great design and applied arts programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the design and applied arts program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

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 Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Making $30-$48k” list to help you make the college decision.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Making $30-$48k

The colleges and universities below are the best for colorado bachelor’s degree design students whose families make $30-$48k.

Top 4 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts (Income $30-$48k) in Colorado

#1

Metropolitan State University of Denver

Denver, Colorado

#2 in overall quality

$12,219 Average Net Price

$41,789 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Metropolitan State University of Denver. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Making $30-$48k list. Denver, Colorado is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s design degrees to 45 students in 2019-2020.

MSU Denver also made our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” list, coming in at #2. It costs about $12,219 for Colorado Bachelor’s Degree Design students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Full Metropolitan State University of Denver Design & Applied Arts Report

#2

Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design

Lakewood, Colorado

#1 in overall quality

$24,819 Average Net Price

$29,374 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Making $30-$48k. RMCAD is a private for-profit institution located in Lakewood, Colorado. The school has a small population, and it awarded 118 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

RMCAD did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” list. The estimated yearly cost for RMCAD is $24,819 for Colorado Bachelor’s Degree Design students whose families make $30-$48k.

With a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at RMCAD

#3

Colorado Mesa University

Grand Junction, Colorado

#4 in overall quality

$13,624 Average Net Price

$31,305 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, Colorado Mesa University landed the #3 spot on the list. This medium-sized school is located in Grand Junction, Colorado, and it awarded 19 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our colorado bachelor’s degree design students whose families make $30-$48k list, Colorado Mesa has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Colorado Mesa is $13,624 for colorado bachelor’s degree design students whose families make $30-$48k.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Colorado Mesa

#4

University of Denver

Denver, Colorado

#3 in overall quality

$20,735 Average Net Price

$14,442 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Denver landed the #4 spot on the list. This fairly large school is located in Denver, Colorado, and it awarded 18 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.

DU also made our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” list, coming in at #3. It costs about $20,735 for Colorado Bachelor’s Degree Design students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend DU.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at DU

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts (Income $30-$48k) in the Rocky Mountains Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts (Income $30-$48k)

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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