College Factual  by our College Data Analytics Team
       Unbiased Factual Guarantee

2024 Best Value Design Schools in Virginia

9 Ranked Colleges
988 Degrees Awarded
$19,300 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Design Schools in Virginia

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. 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 in Virginia” ranking.

In 2020-2021, 36,301 people earned their degree in design & applied arts, making the major the 36th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, design & applied arts graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $31,426 and had an average of $25,481 in loans still to pay off.

Across Virginia, there were 988 design & applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $31,842 and $26,331 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Design Schools in Virginia” ranking analyzed 9 colleges that offered a degree in design & applied arts. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality design & applied arts programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the design & applied arts program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Degree Other Award Levels
Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Design Rankings Other Ranking Categories

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Design Schools in Virginia” list to help you make the college decision.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Design Schools in Virginia

The colleges and universities below are the best for virginia design students.

Top 9 Best Value Colleges for Design & Applied Arts in Virginia

1
Virginia Tech crest
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, Virginia

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Design Schools in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, Virginia Tech landed the #1 spot on the list. Located in Blacksburg, Virginia, this large public school handed out 62 degrees to qualified ’s design students in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our virginia design students list, Virginia Tech has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in Virginia” ranking. It costs about $21,301 for Virginia Design students per year to attend Virginia Tech.

With a freshman retention rate of 92%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Virginia Tech

2

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Design Schools in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, Virginia Commonwealth University landed the #2 spot on the list. Located in Richmond, Virginia, this large public school awarded 315 diplomas to qualified ’s design students in 2020-2021.

VCU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in Virginia” list. The yearly cost to attend Virginia Commonwealth University is $20,490 for virginia design students.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University

3

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Design Schools in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, Northern Virginia Community College landed the #3 spot on the list. Northern Virginia Community College is a public institution located in Annandale, Virginia. The school has a large population, and it awarded 68 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

Northern Virginia Community College did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in Virginia” list. The estimated yearly cost for Northern Virginia Community College is $9,452 for virginia design students.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at Northern Virginia Community College

4
Liberty University crest
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 #4 for the Best Value Design Schools in Virginia. Lynchburg, Virginia is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s design degrees to 236 students in 2020-2021.

Liberty University did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in Virginia” list. The yearly cost to attend Liberty University is $29,382 for virginia design students.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Liberty University

5
Tidewater Community College crest
Tidewater Community College
Norfolk, Virginia

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Design Schools in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, Tidewater Community College landed the #5 spot on the list. Tidewater Community College is a public institution located in Norfolk, Virginia. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 76 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

Tidewater Community College not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in Virginia” list. The estimated yearly cost for Tidewater Community College is $7,312 for Virginia Design students.

Full Tidewater Community College Design & Applied Arts Report

6
Radford crest
Radford University
Radford, Virginia

Radford University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Design Schools in Virginia list. Located in Radford, Virginia, this medium-sized public school awarded 36 degrees to qualified ’s design students in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Radford, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in Virginia” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Radford is $16,505 for Virginia Design students.

Full Radford University Design & Applied Arts Report

7
Regent crest
Regent University
Virginia Beach, Virginia

Regent University did quite well in the 2024 Best Value Design Schools in Virginia ranking, coming in at #7. Regent is a private not-for-profit institution located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 4 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Regent, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in Virginia” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Regent is $24,888 for Virginia Design students.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at Regent

8
Marymount crest
Marymount University
Arlington, Virginia

Marymount University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Design Schools in Virginia ranking. Marymount University is a small school located in Arlington, Virginia that handed out 60 ’s design degrees in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Marymount, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in Virginia” ranking. It costs about $22,856 for virginia design students per year to attend Marymount.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.3% 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%.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Marymount

9
Ai Virginia Beach crest
The Art Institute of Virginia Beach
Virginia Beach, Virginia

The Art Institute of Virginia Beach came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Design Schools in Virginia ranking. Located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, this small private for-profit school handed out 9 degrees to qualified ’s design students in 2020-2021.

Ai Virginia Beach also took the #9 spot in our “Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in Virginia” ranking. It costs about $21,907 for virginia design students per year to attend The Art Institute of Virginia Beach.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at The Art Institute of Virginia Beach

Notes and References

References

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

Popular Reports

College Rankings
Best by Location
Degree Guides by Major
Graduate Programs

Compare Your School Options