2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts in Pennsylvania
When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.
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 Pennsylvania, there were 1,110 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $29,866 and $26,524 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 833 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania” ranking looked at 25 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. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.
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More Ways to Rank Design & Applied Arts Schools
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 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. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania
The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania.
Top 25 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts in Pennsylvania
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Kutztown University of Pennsylvania. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. Kutztown University of Pennsylvania is a medium-sized school located in Kutztown, Pennsylvania that handed out 53 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
Kutztown University not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. It costs about $22,422 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree design students per year to attend Kutztown University.
Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Kutztown University
Out of the 25 schools in the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Millersville University of Pennsylvania landed the #2 spot on the list. Located in Millersville, Pennsylvania, this medium-sized public school handed out 13 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s design students in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Millersville, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. It costs about $23,350 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree design students per year to attend Millersville University of Pennsylvania.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend California University of Pennsylvania. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania. Cal U is a public institution located in California, Pennsylvania. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 22 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
Cal U also made our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list, coming in at #18. The yearly cost to attend California University of Pennsylvania is $18,154 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree design students.
Out of the 25 schools in the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Indiana University of Pennsylvania - Main Campus landed the #4 spot on the list. IUP is a fairly large school located in Indiana, Pennsylvania that handed out 24 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
IUP also made our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list, coming in at #15. It costs about $22,448 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Design students per year to attend IUP.
Out of the 25 schools in the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Temple University landed the #5 spot on the list. Temple is a large public school situated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It awarded 54 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
Temple not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. The yearly cost to attend Temple University is $23,521 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Design students.
With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.
With a ranking of #6, East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. This medium-sized school is located in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 7 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
East Stroudsburg University also took the #22 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. It costs about $19,855 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree design students per year to attend East Stroudsburg University.
Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at East Stroudsburg University
Mansfield University of Pennsylvania ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. Mansfield University is a public institution located in Mansfield, Pennsylvania. The school has a small population, and it awarded 7 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
Mansfield University also made our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list, coming in at #24. The yearly cost to attend Mansfield University is $19,065 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree design students.
Read more about Design & Applied Arts at Mansfield University
York College of Pennsylvania came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking. YCP is a small school located in York, Pennsylvania that handed out 9 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our pennsylvania bachelor’s degree design students list, YCP has also earned the #9 rank in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for York College of Pennsylvania is $20,652 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree design students.
The student loan default rate at the school is 4.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full York College of Pennsylvania Design & Applied Arts Report
Pennsylvania College of Technology came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking. Williamsport, Pennsylvania is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s design degrees to 19 students in 2019-2020.
Penn College also made our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list, coming in at #23. It costs about $25,794 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree design students per year to attend Penn College.
Read more about Design & Applied Arts at Pennsylvania College of Technology
Albright College ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. This small school is located in Reading, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 25 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
Albright also took the #19 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Albright College is $19,469 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree design students.
La Roche University ranked #11 on this year’s Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. This small school is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 12 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
La Roche also took the #10 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The yearly cost to attend La Roche is $20,199 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Design students.
Read more about Design & Applied Arts at La Roche University
Robert Morris University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking, coming in at #12. This small school is located in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 26 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
RMU also made our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list, coming in at #12. It costs about $26,839 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree design students per year to attend Robert Morris University.
Harrisburg University of Science and Technology came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking. Harrisburg University of Science and Technology is a private not-for-profit institution located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The school has a small population, and it awarded 11 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
Harrisburg University of Science and Technology did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #25 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. It costs about $14,848 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Design students per year to attend Harrisburg University of Science and Technology.
Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology
Cabrini University ranked #14 on this year’s Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. Cabrini University is a small school located in Radnor, Pennsylvania that handed out 7 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our pennsylvania bachelor’s degree design students list, Cabrini University has also earned the #21 rank in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. It costs about $21,684 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree design students per year to attend Cabrini University.
Marywood University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking, coming in at #15. Marywood University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The school has a small population, and it awarded 18 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
Marywood did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #8 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. It costs about $22,236 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Design students per year to attend Marywood University.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Seton Hill University landed the #16 spot on the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking. Seton Hill University is a small school located in Greensburg, Pennsylvania that handed out 4 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our pennsylvania bachelor’s degree design students list, Seton Hill has also earned the #20 rank in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Seton Hill University is $23,620 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree design students.
The student loan default rate at the school is 4.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Design & Applied Arts at Seton Hill University
Thomas Jefferson University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking, coming in at #17. This medium-sized school is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 68 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Thomas Jefferson University, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Thomas Jefferson University is $25,162 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree design students.
The student loan default rate at the school is 3.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Thomas Jefferson University
With a ranking of #18, Mercyhurst University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. Mercyhurst University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Erie, Pennsylvania. The school has a small population, and it awarded 15 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
Mercyhurst also made our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list, coming in at #14. It costs about $23,886 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree design students per year to attend Mercyhurst.
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts ranked #19 on this year’s Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s design degrees to 5 students in 2019-2020.
PAFA also made our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list, coming in at #16. It costs about $26,284 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Design students per year to attend Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.
Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Arcadia University ranked #20 on this year’s Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. Arcadia is a private not-for-profit institution located in Glenside, Pennsylvania. The school has a small population, and it awarded 12 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our pennsylvania bachelor’s degree design students list, Arcadia has also earned the #17 rank in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Arcadia is $27,189 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree design students.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Moore College of Art and Design ranked #21 on this year’s Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. Moore College of Art and Design is a small school located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that handed out 38 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
Moore College also made our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list, coming in at #11. The estimated yearly cost for Moore College is $32,846 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Design students.
The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 7 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.
Susquehanna University landed the #22 spot on the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking. Susquehanna is a small school located in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania that handed out 12 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
Susquehanna did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. It costs about $25,724 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree design students per year to attend Susquehanna.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 88%.
The University of the Arts ranked #23 on this year’s Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. This small school is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 71 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at UArts, the school also landed the #13 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UArts is $40,332 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Design students.
Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.
Drexel University ranked #24 on this year’s Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. Drexel is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 185 bachelors’s design degrees to qualified students.
In addition to being on our pennsylvania bachelor’s degree design students list, Drexel has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Drexel University is $34,914 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Design students.
The low student loan default rate of 2.3% 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 88%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
With a ranking of #25, Carnegie Mellon University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. Carnegie Mellon is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It awarded 37 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
Carnegie Mellon also took the #1 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Carnegie Mellon is $34,508 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Design students.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 96%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 0.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.
- 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
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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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