2022 Best Value Design Schools for an Associate in the New England Region

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. 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 the New England Region” 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 the New England region, there were 2,080 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $34,585 and $28,831 respectively. At the associate degree level specifically, there were 281 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $36,753 and $14,559 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Design Schools for an Associate in the New England Region” ranking looked at 4 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s 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.

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

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Design Schools for an Associate in the New England Region” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that 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. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value Design Schools for an Associate in the New England Region

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

Top 4 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts in the New England Region

#1

Springfield Technical Community College

Springfield, Massachusetts

#2 in overall quality

$8,943 Average Net Price

$24,035 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Design Schools for an Associate in the New England Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Springfield Technical Community College landed the #1 spot on the list. Springfield Technical Community College is located in Springfield, Massachusetts and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 13 associates’s design degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our new england region associate degree design students list, STCC has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in the New England Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Springfield Technical Community College is $8,943 for New England Region Associate Degree Design students.

Full Springfield Technical Community College Design & Applied Arts Report

#2

Community College of Vermont

Montpelier, Vermont

#3 in overall quality

$10,798 Average Net Price

$31,839 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Design Schools for an Associate in the New England Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Community College of Vermont landed the #2 spot on the list. Community College of Vermont is a medium-sized public school situated in Montpelier, Vermont. It awarded 9 associates’s design degrees in 2019-2020.

CCV did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in the New England Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for Community College of Vermont is $10,798 for New England Region Associate Degree Design students.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Community College of Vermont

#3

New England Institute of Technology

East Greenwich, Rhode Island

#1 in overall quality

$31,690 Average Net Price

$25,194 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Design Schools for an Associate in the New England Region that were part of this year’s ranking, New England Institute of Technology landed the #3 spot on the list. New England Institute of Technology is a small private not-for-profit school situated in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. It awarded 83 associates’s design degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at New England Tech, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in the New England Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for New England Institute of Technology is $31,690 for new england region associate degree design students.

The low student loan default rate of 2.2% 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%. Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at New England Institute of Technology

#4

Bay State College

Boston, Massachusetts

#4 in overall quality

$31,777 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Bay State College. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Design Schools for an Associate in the New England Region. Located in Boston, Massachusetts, this small private for-profit school handed out 1 degrees to qualified associates’s design students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Bay State College, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in the New England Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Bay State College is $31,777 for new england region associate degree design students.

Full Bay State College Design & Applied Arts Report

• Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts

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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