2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. 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 Colorado” 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 Colorado, there were 347 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $31,350 and $24,232 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 200 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,261 and $25,672 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado” ranking analyzed 4 colleges that offered 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.

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

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 a Bachelor’s in Colorado” 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. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado

The colleges and universities below are the best for colorado bachelor’s degree design students.

Top 4 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts in Colorado

#1

Metropolitan State University of Denver

Denver, Colorado

#2 in overall quality

$14,257 Average Net Price

$41,789 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Metropolitan State University of Denver. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado list. Metropolitan State University of Denver is a public institution located in Denver, Colorado. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 45 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

MSU Denver also made our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” list, coming in at #2. The yearly cost to attend MSU Denver is $14,257 for colorado bachelor’s degree design students.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Metropolitan State University of Denver

#2

Colorado Mesa University

Grand Junction, Colorado

#4 in overall quality

$15,569 Average Net Price

$31,305 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Colorado Mesa University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado list. Colorado Mesa is a public institution located in Grand Junction, Colorado. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 19 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Colorado Mesa did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” list. The yearly cost to attend Colorado Mesa is $15,569 for colorado bachelor’s degree design students.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Colorado Mesa University

#3

Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design

Lakewood, Colorado

#1 in overall quality

$25,334 Average Net Price

$29,374 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado list. Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design is located in Lakewood, Colorado and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 118 bachelors’s design degrees to qualified students.

RMCAD also made our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” list, coming in at #1. The estimated yearly cost for Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design is $25,334 for colorado 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.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design

#4

University of Denver

Denver, Colorado

#3 in overall quality

$32,361 Average Net Price

$14,442 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Colorado that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Denver landed the #4 spot on the list. University of Denver is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Denver, Colorado. It awarded 18 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our colorado bachelor’s degree design students list, DU has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Colorado” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for DU is $32,361 for colorado bachelor’s degree design students.

The low student loan default rate of 1.9% 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 University of Denver Design & Applied Arts Report

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts in the Rocky Mountains 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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