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

7 Ranked Colleges
605 Degrees Awarded
$22,500 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor's in Virginia

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia” ranking - to help you make that decision.

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 Virginia, there were 920 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $27,840 and $28,070 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 605 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia” ranking, we looked at 7 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.

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.

More Ways to Rank Design & Applied Arts Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. 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 Virginia

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

Top 7 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts in Virginia

#1

Virginia Tech

Blacksburg, Virginia

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Virginia Tech. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia. Virginia Tech is a large school located in Blacksburg, Virginia that handed out 60 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Virginia Tech, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” ranking. It costs about $21,198 for Virginia Bachelor’s Degree Design students per year to attend Virginia Tech.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, 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 1.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at Virginia Tech

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, Virginia Commonwealth University landed the #2 spot on the list. VCU is located in Richmond, Virginia and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 278 bachelors’s design degrees to qualified students.

VCU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list. The estimated yearly cost for VCU is $22,021 for virginia bachelor’s degree design students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University

#3

Longwood University

Farmville, Virginia
#4 in overall quality

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, Longwood University landed the #3 spot on the list. Longwood University is a small school located in Farmville, Virginia that handed out 11 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.

Longwood not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list. The estimated yearly cost for Longwood University is $19,462 for Virginia Bachelor’s Degree Design students.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Longwood University

#4

Radford University

Radford, Virginia

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Radford University. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia list. Radford is a public institution located in Radford, Virginia. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 29 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Radford also took the #5 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” ranking. It costs about $16,447 for virginia bachelor’s degree design students per year to attend Radford University.

Full Radford University Design & Applied Arts Report

#5

Liberty University

Lynchburg, Virginia

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Liberty University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia. Liberty University is a large school located in Lynchburg, Virginia that handed out 162 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.

Liberty University also took the #6 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” ranking. It costs about $28,903 for Virginia Bachelor’s Degree Design students per year to attend Liberty University.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Liberty University

#6

The Art Institute of Virginia Beach

Virginia Beach, Virginia

The Art Institute of Virginia Beach did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia ranking, coming in at #6. This small school is located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and it awarded 13 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Ai Virginia Beach, the school also landed the #7 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” ranking. It costs about $23,561 for virginia bachelor’s degree design students per year to attend Ai Virginia Beach.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Ai Virginia Beach

#7

Marymount University

Arlington, Virginia

With a ranking of #7, Marymount University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia list. Marymount University is a small school located in Arlington, Virginia that handed out 47 bachelors’s design degrees in 2019-2020.

Marymount not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list. The estimated yearly cost for Marymount University is $26,078 for Virginia Bachelor’s Degree Design students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Marymount Design & Applied Arts Report

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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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