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2022 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts in Pennsylvania

7 Ranked Colleges
155 Degrees Awarded
$16,700 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Design Schools for an Associate in Pennsylvania

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 for an Associate in Pennsylvania” 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 Pennsylvania, there were 1,110 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $29,866 and $26,524 respectively. At the associate degree level specifically, there were 155 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Design Schools for an Associate in Pennsylvania” ranking, we looked at 7 colleges that offer a degree 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.

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. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

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 an Associate in Pennsylvania” 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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Design Schools for an Associate in Pennsylvania

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Design Schools for an Associate in Pennsylvania.

Top 7 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts in Pennsylvania

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Northampton County Area Community College. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Design Schools for an Associate in Pennsylvania. Northampton County Area Community College is located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 31 associates’s design degrees to qualified students.

Northampton Community College did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. The yearly cost to attend Northampton County Area Community College is $9,053 for pennsylvania associate degree design students.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Northampton Community College

#2

California University of Pennsylvania

California, Pennsylvania
#2 in overall quality

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Design Schools for an Associate in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, California University of Pennsylvania landed the #2 spot on the list. Cal U is a medium-sized public school situated in California, Pennsylvania. It awarded 4 associates’s design degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Cal U, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. It costs about $18,154 for pennsylvania associate degree design students per year to attend Cal U.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at California University of Pennsylvania

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Delaware County Community College. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Design Schools for an Associate in Pennsylvania list. Delaware County Community College is located in Media, Pennsylvania and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 16 associates’s design degrees to qualified students.

Delaware County Community College also took the #4 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Delaware County Community College is $11,597 for Pennsylvania Associate Degree Design students.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at Delaware County Community College

#4

Luzerne County Community College

Nanticoke, Pennsylvania

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Luzerne County Community College. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Design Schools for an Associate in Pennsylvania list. Luzerne County Community College is a small school located in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania that handed out 15 associates’s design degrees in 2019-2020.

Luzerne County Community College did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. The estimated yearly cost for Luzerne County Community College is $7,985 for Pennsylvania Associate Degree Design students.

Full Luzerne County Community College Design & Applied Arts Report

#5

Harcum College

Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Design Schools for an Associate in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Harcum College landed the #5 spot on the list. Located in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 9 diplomas to qualified associates’s design students in 2019-2020.

Harcum College did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. It costs about $23,588 for Pennsylvania Associate Degree Design students per year to attend Harcum College.

The student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Harcum College

#6

Pennsylvania College of Technology

Williamsport, Pennsylvania
#6 in overall quality

Pennsylvania College of Technology ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Design Schools for an Associate in Pennsylvania list. Williamsport, Pennsylvania is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out associates’s design degrees to 3 students in 2019-2020.

Penn College did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. The yearly cost to attend Pennsylvania College of Technology is $25,794 for pennsylvania associate degree design students.

Full Pennsylvania College of Technology Design & Applied Arts Report

#7

South Hills School of Business & Technology

State College, Pennsylvania

South Hills School of Business & Technology came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Design Schools for an Associate in Pennsylvania ranking. South Hills School of Business & Technology is a small school located in State College, Pennsylvania that handed out 9 associates’s design degrees in 2019-2020.

South Hills School of Business & Technology also took the #7 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. It costs about $20,644 for pennsylvania associate degree design students per year to attend South Hills School of Business & Technology.

The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at South Hills School of Business & Technology

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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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