2023 Most Focused Master’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts in California
14
Ranked Colleges
193
Degrees Awarded
$68,111
Avg Salary
With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in California” ranking is part of that endeavor.
Design & Applied Arts is the 36th most popular major in the country with 36,301 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, design and 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 California, there were 4,575 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $32,016 and $26,876 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 193 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $62,974 and $0 respectively.
This year’s “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in California” ranking analyzed 14 colleges that offered a degree in design and applied arts. The colleges and universities that top this list are recognized because their design and applied arts program is one of the largest majors offered at the school.
See our ranking methodology to learn more.
More Ways to Rank Design & Applied Arts Schools
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 “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in California” list to help you make the college decision.
One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. 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.
Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in California
The colleges and universities below are the best for california master’s degree design students.
Top 14 Most Focused Master’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts in California
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Otis College of Art and Design. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in California list. Located in Los Angeles, California, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 15 degrees to qualified masters’s design students in 2020-2021.
With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 7 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Otis College of Art and Design
Out of the 14 schools in the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California College of the Arts landed the #2 spot on the list. California College of the Arts is located in San Francisco, California and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 25 masters’s design degrees to qualified students.
With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 4.2% 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%.
Full California College of the Arts Design & Applied Arts Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Academy of Art University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in California list. This medium-sized school is located in San Francisco, California, and it awarded 77 masters’s design degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 5.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full Academy of Art University Design & Applied Arts Report
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Art Center College of Design. The school came in at #4 for the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in California. This small school is located in Pasadena, California, and it awarded 24 masters’s design degrees in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.2% 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%. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.
Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Art Center College of Design
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Laguna College of Art and Design. The school came in at #5 for the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in California. Laguna College of Art and Design is a private not-for-profit institution located in Laguna Beach, California. The school has a small population, and it awarded 6 masters’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Design & Applied Arts at Laguna College of Art and Design
New York Film Academy did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in California ranking, coming in at #6. Located in Burbank, California, this small private for-profit school awarded 6 diplomas to qualified masters’s design students in 2020-2021.
The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.8% 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 New York Film Academy
University of Southern California landed the #7 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in California ranking. Los Angeles, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out masters’s design degrees to 21 students in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Full University of Southern California Design & Applied Arts Report
With a ranking of #8, San Francisco State University did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in California list. This large school is located in San Francisco, California, and it awarded 9 masters’s design degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Design & Applied Arts at San Francisco State University
University of California - Los Angeles ranked #9 on this year’s Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in California list. University of California - Los Angeles is a public institution located in Los Angeles, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 6 masters’s degrees in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at University of California - Los Angeles
California State University - Long Beach did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in California ranking, coming in at #10. CSULB is a public institution located in Long Beach, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 4 masters’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at CSULB
University of California - Berkeley came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in California ranking. Berkeley, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out masters’s design degrees to 0 students in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at UC Berkeley
National University landed the #11 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in California ranking. La Jolla, California is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out masters’s design degrees to 0 students in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.7% 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%.
Full National University Design & Applied Arts Report
Design Institute of San Diego came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in California ranking. San Diego, California is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private for-profit school handed out masters’s design degrees to 18 students in 2020-2021.
With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.0% 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 Design Institute of San Diego
Stanford University came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in California ranking. This fairly large school is located in Stanford, California, and it awarded 0 masters’s design degrees in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.5% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 4 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.
Full Stanford 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
- *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate 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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