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2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Doctorate

5 Ranked Colleges
14 Degrees Awarded
$33,800 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees*
Best Value Design Schools for a Doctorate

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. 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 Doctorate” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

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.

At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 14 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $72,680 and $116,043 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Design Schools for a Doctorate” ranking analyzed 5 colleges that offered a degree in design and applied arts. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent design and applied arts programs, but they also 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. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

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 Doctorate”.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Design Schools for a Doctorate

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

Top 5 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts

#1

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, Minnesota
#3 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Design Schools for a Doctorate. This large school is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and it awarded 5 doctorate’s design degrees in 2019-2020.

UMN Twin Cities also made our “Best Design & Applied Arts Doctor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #3. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities are $28,845.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

#2

Cornell University

Ithaca, New York
#2 in overall quality

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Design Schools for a Doctorate that were part of this year’s ranking, Cornell University landed the #2 spot on the list. Cornell is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Ithaca, New York. It awarded 2 doctorate’s design degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Cornell, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Doctor’s Degree Schools” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Cornell University are $30,042, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full Cornell University Design & Applied Arts Report

#3

Auburn University

Auburn, Alabama
#4 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Auburn University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Design Schools for a Doctorate. Auburn, Alabama is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate’s design degrees to 2 students in 2019-2020.

Auburn not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Doctor’s Degree Schools” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Auburn are $31,956.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at Auburn

#5 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Illinois Institute of Technology. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Doctorate list. Illinois Institute of Technology is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 2 doctorate’s design degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Illinois Tech, the school also landed the #5 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Doctor’s Degree Schools” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Illinois Tech are $30,695.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Illinois Institute of Technology

#5

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
#1 in overall quality

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Design Schools for a Doctorate that were part of this year’s ranking, Carnegie Mellon University landed the #5 spot on the list. Carnegie Mellon University is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 3 doctorate’s design degrees to qualified students.

Carnegie Mellon also made our “Best Design & Applied Arts Doctor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #1. Average graduate tuition and fees at Carnegie Mellon University are $47,326, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at Carnegie Mellon University

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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