2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts in District of Columbia

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 District of Columbia” 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 District of Columbia, there were 72 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $47,100 and $55,250 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 34 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $44,446 and $25,767 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia” ranking looked at 2 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.

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. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

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 for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia”.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia.

Top 2 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts in District of Columbia

#1

American University

Washington, District of Columbia

#2 in overall quality

$43,451 Average Net Price

$42,682 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend American University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia. The 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 11 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

The American University also took the #2 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in District of Columbia” ranking. It costs about $43,451 for district of columbia bachelor’s degree design students per year to attend The American University.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.5%, 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.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at American University

#2

George Washington University

Washington, District of Columbia

#1 in overall quality

$33,719 Average Net Price

$46,456 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend George Washington University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia list. George Washington University is located in Washington, District of Columbia and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 23 bachelors’s design degrees to qualified students.

GWU also made our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in District of Columbia” list, coming in at #1. The estimated yearly cost for GWU is $33,719 for district of columbia bachelor’s degree design students.

With a freshman retention rate of 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its 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%.

Full George Washington University Design & Applied Arts Report

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts in the Middle Atlantic Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s 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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