2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region
It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region” ranking.
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 bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 1,551 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $41,041 and $24,492 respectively.
For this year’s “Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region” ranking, we looked at 31 colleges that offer a degree in design and applied arts. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great design and applied arts programs and cost less that 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. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
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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 the New England Region”.
We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. 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 a Bachelor’s in the New England Region
The colleges and universities below are the best for new england region bachelor’s degree design students.
Top 25 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts in the New England Region
Out of the 31 schools in the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern New Hampshire University landed the #1 spot on the list. Manchester, New Hampshire is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s design degrees to 345 students in 2019-2020.
SNHU also made our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the New England Region” list, coming in at #13. The yearly cost to attend SNHU is $41,095 for new england region bachelor’s degree design students.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Salem State University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region list. This medium-sized school is located in Salem, Massachusetts, and it awarded 18 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
Salem State also took the #19 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the New England Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Salem State is $18,399 for new england region bachelor’s degree design students.
Out of the 31 schools in the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Framingham State University landed the #3 spot on the list. Framingham State University is a small school located in Framingham, Massachusetts that handed out 1 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
Framingham State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #24 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the New England Region” list. It costs about $20,001 for New England Region Bachelor’s Degree Design students per year to attend Framingham State.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Central Connecticut State University. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region list. CCSU is a fairly large public school situated in New Britain, Connecticut. It awarded 28 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
CCSU also took the #20 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the New England Region” ranking. It costs about $16,158 for new england region bachelor’s degree design students per year to attend CCSU.
Out of the 31 schools in the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Keene State College landed the #5 spot on the list. Located in Keene, New Hampshire, this small public school handed out 14 degrees to qualified bachelors’s design students in 2019-2020.
Keene State also took the #21 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the New England Region” ranking. It costs about $19,394 for new england region bachelor’s degree design students per year to attend Keene State College.
Read more about Design & Applied Arts at Keene State College
Wentworth Institute of Technology ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region list. WIT is a private not-for-profit institution located in Boston, Massachusetts. The school has a small population, and it awarded 59 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
WIT also took the #4 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the New England Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Wentworth Institute of Technology is $36,113 for New England Region Bachelor’s Degree Design students.
The low student loan default rate of 3.0% 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 Wentworth Institute of Technology Design & Applied Arts Report
University of Massachusetts - Lowell came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region ranking. Located in Lowell, Massachusetts, this fairly large public school awarded 26 degrees to qualified bachelors’s design students in 2019-2020.
UMass Lowell also took the #9 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the New England Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UMass Lowell is $19,119 for New England Region Bachelor’s Degree Design students.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
With a ranking of #8, Endicott College did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region list. Beverly, Massachusetts is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s design degrees to 35 students in 2019-2020.
Endicott also took the #5 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the New England Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Endicott is $35,642 for new england region bachelor’s degree design students.
The low student loan default rate of 3.2% 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%.
University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region list. UMass Dartmouth is a medium-sized school located in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts that handed out 42 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our new england region bachelor’s degree design students list, UMass Dartmouth has also earned the #14 rank in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the New England Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth is $18,503 for New England Region Bachelor’s Degree Design students.
Full University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth Design & Applied Arts Report
With a ranking of #10, Lesley University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region list. Lesley is a small school located in Cambridge, Massachusetts that handed out 67 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
Lesley also made our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the New England Region” list, coming in at #17. It costs about $33,644 for new england region bachelor’s degree design students per year to attend Lesley.
The low student loan default rate of 4.4% 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 student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.
Northern Vermont University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region ranking, coming in at #11. Northern Vermont University is a small school located in Johnson, Vermont that handed out 4 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
It costs about $15,749 for New England Region Bachelor’s Degree Design students per year to attend Northern Vermont University.
Read more about Design & Applied Arts at Northern Vermont University
With a ranking of #12, New England Institute of Technology did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region list. East Greenwich, Rhode Island is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s design degrees to 20 students in 2019-2020.
New England Tech not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #15 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the New England Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for New England Institute of Technology is $31,690 for New England Region Bachelor’s Degree Design students.
The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. 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%.
Read more about Design & Applied Arts at New England Institute of Technology
With a ranking of #13, New England College did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region list. Henniker, New Hampshire is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s design degrees to 20 students in 2019-2020.
It costs about $29,082 for New England Region Bachelor’s Degree Design students per year to attend NEC.
Massachusetts College of Art and Design landed the #14 spot on the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region ranking. This small school is located in Boston, Massachusetts, and it awarded 154 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, the school also landed the #7 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the New England Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Massachusetts College of Art and Design is $24,043 for new england region bachelor’s degree design students.
With a student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.
Full Massachusetts College of Art and Design Design & Applied Arts Report
University of Bridgeport came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region ranking. Bridgeport, Connecticut is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s design degrees to 52 students in 2019-2020.
UBridgeport also took the #22 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the New England Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UBridgeport is $22,600 for New England Region Bachelor’s Degree Design students.
Maine College of Art ranked #16 on this year’s Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region list. Maine College of Art is a small school located in Portland, Maine that handed out 44 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
Maine College of Art also took the #25 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the New England Region” ranking. It costs about $32,293 for new england region bachelor’s degree design students per year to attend Maine College of Art.
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.
With a ranking of #17, Montserrat College of Art did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region list. Beverly, Massachusetts is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s design degrees to 16 students in 2019-2020.
It costs about $31,313 for New England Region Bachelor’s Degree Design students per year to attend Montserrat College of Art.
Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Montserrat College of Art
Lasell University landed the #18 spot on the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region ranking. This small school is located in Newton, Massachusetts, and it awarded 36 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
Lasell also made our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the New England Region” list, coming in at #23. The estimated yearly cost for Lasell University is $27,428 for new england region bachelor’s degree design students.
University of Hartford came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region ranking. University of Hartford is a private not-for-profit institution located in West Hartford, Connecticut. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 42 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
UHart not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #18 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the New England Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of Hartford is $28,541 for new england region bachelor’s degree design students.
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 University of Hartford
Emmanuel College Massachusetts came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region ranking. Boston, Massachusetts is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s design degrees to 10 students in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our new england region bachelor’s degree design students list, Emmanuel Boston has also earned the #10 rank in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the New England Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Emmanuel Boston is $28,314 for new england region bachelor’s degree design students.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Emmanuel College Massachusetts
Champlain College came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region ranking. Champlain College is located in Burlington, Vermont and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 68 bachelors’s design degrees to qualified students.
Champlain not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #12 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the New England Region” list. It costs about $33,561 for new england region bachelor’s degree design students per year to attend Champlain College.
The student loan default rate at the school is 4.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Champlain College
Suffolk University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region ranking, coming in at #22. Suffolk is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Boston, Massachusetts. It awarded 29 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.
Suffolk also made our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the New England Region” list, coming in at #11. The estimated yearly cost for Suffolk is $30,701 for New England Region Bachelor’s Degree Design students.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
University of New Haven landed the #23 spot on the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region ranking. West Haven, Connecticut is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s design degrees to 24 students in 2019-2020.
University of New Haven also made our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the New England Region” list, coming in at #16. It costs about $33,400 for new england region bachelor’s degree design students per year to attend University of New Haven.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
With a ranking of #24, Stonehill College did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region list. Easton, Massachusetts is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s design degrees to 11 students in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our new england region bachelor’s degree design students list, Stonehill has also earned the #6 rank in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the New England Region” ranking. It costs about $34,658 for new england region bachelor’s degree design students per year to attend Stonehill.
The low student loan default rate of 1.4% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%.
With a ranking of #25, Curry College did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in the New England Region list. Curry College is located in Milton, Massachusetts and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 7 bachelors’s design degrees to qualified students.
The yearly cost to attend Curry College is $27,739 for New England Region Bachelor’s Degree Design students.
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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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