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

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Design Schools for a Master’s in the Plains States Region” ranking is part of that endeavor.

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 Plains States region, there were 2,352 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $29,931 and $22,419 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 52 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $53,438 and $39,783 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Design Schools for a Master’s in the Plains States Region” ranking looked at 4 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s 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. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

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 Master’s in the Plains States Region” 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. 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 Plains States Region

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

Top 4 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts in the Plains States Region

#1

Iowa State University

Ames, Iowa

#2 in overall quality

$25,948 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$35,416 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Iowa State University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Design Schools for a Master’s in the Plains States Region. Ames, Iowa 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.

Iowa State also took the #2 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Iowa State are $25,948.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Iowa State University

#2

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, Minnesota

#1 in overall quality

$28,845 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Master’s in the Plains States Region list. UMN Twin Cities is a large public school situated in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It awarded 10 masters’s design degrees in 2019-2020.

UMN Twin Cities did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at UMN Twin Cities are $28,845.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at UMN Twin Cities

#3

Wichita State University

Wichita, Kansas

#4 in overall quality

$15,112 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Wichita State University. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Master’s in the Plains States Region list. Wichita State University is a public institution located in Wichita, Kansas. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 10 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

WSU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Wichita State University are $15,112, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full WSU Design & Applied Arts Report

#4

Minneapolis College of Art and Design

Minneapolis, Minnesota

#3 in overall quality

$41,794 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$55,512 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Minneapolis College of Art and Design. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Master’s in the Plains States Region list. Located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 6 degrees to qualified masters’s design students in 2019-2020.

MCAD also took the #3 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at MCAD are $41,794, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at MCAD

• Best Value Master’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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