2023 Best Value Design Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. 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 in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

In 2020-2021, 36,301 people earned their degree in design and applied arts, making the major the 36th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, design and applied arts graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $31,426 and had an average of $25,481 in loans still to pay off.

Across District of Columbia, there were 84 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $46,751 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Design Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking analyzed 2 colleges that offered a degree 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.

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. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 “Best Value Design Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k”.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. 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 District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Design Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k.

Top 2 Best Value Colleges for Design & Applied Arts (Income $30-$48k) in District of Columbia

1

George Washington University
Washington, District of Columbia

#1 in overall quality

$14,889 Average Net Price

$65,148 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value Design Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, George Washington University landed the #1 spot on the list. GWU is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Washington, District of Columbia. It awarded 47 ’s design degrees in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our district of columbia design students whose families make $30-$48k list, GWU has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in District of Columbia” ranking. The yearly cost to attend George Washington University is $14,889 for district of columbia design students whose families make $30-$48k.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 88%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at George Washington University

2

American University
Washington, District of Columbia

#2 in overall quality

$20,965 Average Net Price

$50,575 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value Design Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, American University landed the #2 spot on the list. American University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Washington, District of Columbia. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 25 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

The American University not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in District of Columbia” list. The yearly cost to attend The American University is $20,965 for district of columbia design students whose families make $30-$48k.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full American University Design & Applied Arts Report

• Best Value Colleges for Design & Applied Arts (Income $30-$48k) in the Middle Atlantic Region
• Best Value 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.