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2022 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts in the Southwest Region

10 Ranked Colleges
101 Degrees Awarded
$20,400 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees*
Best Value Design Schools for a Master's in the Southwest Region

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Design Schools for a Master’s in the Southwest Region” 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 the Southwest region, there were 3,229 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $27,160 and $27,678 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 101 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $53,078 and $37,227 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Design Schools for a Master’s in the Southwest Region” ranking, we looked at 10 colleges that offer 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.

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

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 Master’s in the Southwest Region”.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique 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 Master’s in the Southwest Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Design Schools for a Master’s in the Southwest Region.

Top 10 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts in the Southwest Region

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Design Schools for a Master’s in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Arizona State University - Skysong landed the #1 spot on the list. Scottsdale, Arizona is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out masters’s design degrees to 24 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our southwest region master’s degree design students list, ASU - Skysong has also earned the #8 rank in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Arizona State University - Skysong are $6,724.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at Arizona State University - Skysong

#3 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of North Texas. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Design Schools for a Master’s in the Southwest Region. University of North Texas is a large public school situated in Denton, Texas. It awarded 7 masters’s design degrees in 2019-2020.

UNT also took the #3 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of North Texas are $15,618, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at UNT

#1 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend The University of Texas at Austin. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Master’s in the Southwest Region list. UT Austin is a public institution located in Austin, Texas. The school has a large population, and it awarded 6 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UT Austin also took the #1 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at UT Austin are $22,886, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full UT Austin Design & Applied Arts Report

#7 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Central Oklahoma. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Master’s in the Southwest Region list. Edmond, Oklahoma is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out masters’s design degrees to 4 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our southwest region master’s degree design students list, UCO has also earned the #7 rank in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at UCO are $17,913, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at University of Central Oklahoma

#5

University of Houston

Houston, Texas
#4 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Houston. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Master’s in the Southwest Region list. UH is a large public school situated in Houston, Texas. It awarded 6 masters’s design degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UH, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at UH are $18,689, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full University of Houston Design & Applied Arts Report

#6

Texas State University

San Marcos, Texas
#5 in overall quality

Texas State University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Design Schools for a Master’s in the Southwest Region ranking. Texas State University is located in San Marcos, Texas and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 7 masters’s design degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our southwest region master’s degree design students list, Texas State has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Texas State University are $17,040.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at Texas State University

With a ranking of #7, Arizona State University - Tempe did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Master’s in the Southwest Region list. Arizona State University - Tempe is a large public school situated in Tempe, Arizona. It awarded 41 masters’s design degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our southwest region master’s degree design students list, ASU - Tempe has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at ASU - Tempe are $27,048.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at ASU - Tempe

#6 in overall quality

Oklahoma State University - Main Campus landed the #8 spot on the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Master’s in the Southwest Region ranking. Stillwater, Oklahoma is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out masters’s design degrees to 1 students in 2019-2020.

OSU also took the #6 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at OSU are $23,963, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at OSU

#10 in overall quality

The Art Institute of Dallas did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Master’s in the Southwest Region ranking, coming in at #9. The Art Institute of Dallas is a private for-profit institution located in Dallas, Texas. The school has a small population, and it awarded 4 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our southwest region master’s degree design students list, The Art Institute of Dallas has also earned the #10 rank in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at The Art Institute of Dallas are $23,799.

Full The Art Institute of Dallas Design & Applied Arts Report

The University of Texas at Dallas did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Master’s in the Southwest Region ranking, coming in at #10. The University of Texas at Dallas is a public institution located in Richardson, Texas. The school has a large population, and it awarded 1 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UT Dallas also made our “Best Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list, coming in at #9. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at UT Dallas are $28,610.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at The University of Texas at Dallas

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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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