2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts (Income $48-$75k) in Colorado

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. 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 for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Making $48-$75k” 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 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 $48-$75k” ranking looked at 4 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in design and applied arts. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality design and applied arts programs that also have a lower cost than 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

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 $48-$75k” list to help you make the college decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Making $48-$75k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Making $48-$75k.

Top 4 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts (Income $48-$75k) in Colorado

#1

Metropolitan State University of Denver

Denver, Colorado

#2 in overall quality

$13,849 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 $48-$75k list. Metropolitan State University of Denver is a fairly large school located in Denver, Colorado that handed out 45 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.

MSU Denver did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” list. The yearly cost to attend Metropolitan State University of Denver is $13,849 for Colorado Bachelor’s Degree Design students whose families make $48-$75k.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at MSU Denver

#2

Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design

Lakewood, Colorado

#1 in overall quality

$24,933 Average Net Price

$29,374 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Making $48-$75k list. Located in Lakewood, Colorado, this small private for-profit school handed out 118 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s design students in 2019-2020.

RMCAD not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” list. The yearly cost to attend Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design is $24,933 for colorado bachelor’s degree design students whose families make $48-$75k.

The student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design

#3

Colorado Mesa University

Grand Junction, Colorado

#4 in overall quality

$15,136 Average Net Price

$31,305 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Colorado Mesa University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado For Those Making $48-$75k. Colorado Mesa is located in Grand Junction, Colorado and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 19 bachelors’s design degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Colorado Mesa, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Colorado Mesa is $15,136 for Colorado Bachelor’s Degree Design students whose families make $48-$75k.

Full Colorado Mesa University Design & Applied Arts Report

#4

University of Denver

Denver, Colorado

#3 in overall quality

$27,530 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 $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Denver landed the #4 spot on the list. Located in Denver, Colorado, this fairly large private not-for-profit school awarded 18 degrees to qualified bachelors’s design students in 2019-2020.

DU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” list. The estimated yearly cost for DU is $27,530 for colorado bachelor’s degree design students whose families make $48-$75k.

The low student loan default rate of 1.9% 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 full report on Design & Applied Arts at University of Denver

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts (Income $48-$75k) in the Rocky Mountains Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts (Income $48-$75k)

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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