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2023 Most Focused Master’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts in Illinois

7 Ranked Colleges
72 Degrees Awarded
$84,285 Avg Salary
Schools for a Master's Highly Focused on Design Major in Illinois

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in Illinois” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

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 Illinois, there were 1,084 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,103 and $26,512 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 72 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $59,317 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in Illinois” ranking, we looked at 7 colleges that offer a degree in design and applied arts. That schools that top this list have a program in design and applied arts in which the largest percentage of students at the school are enrolled.

For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

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Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in Illinois” 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.

Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in Illinois

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

Top 7 Most Focused Master’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts in Illinois

1

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The school came in at #1 for the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in Illinois. School of the Art Institute of Chicago is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 15 masters’s design degrees to qualified students.

The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Full School of the Art Institute of Chicago Design & Applied Arts Report

2

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Illinois Institute of Technology. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in Illinois list. Illinois Tech is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 6 masters’s design degrees to qualified students.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

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

3
UChicago crest
University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

Out of the 7 schools in the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Chicago landed the #3 spot on the list. UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 16 masters’s design degrees in 2020-2021.

Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 100%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at UChicago

4

Out of the 7 schools in the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Chicago landed the #4 spot on the list. University of Illinois at Chicago is a large public school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 17 masters’s design degrees in 2020-2021.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at UIC

5
DePaul crest
DePaul University
Chicago, Illinois

Out of the 7 schools in the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, DePaul University landed the #5 spot on the list. DePaul University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 12 masters’s degrees in 2020-2021.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at DePaul University

6
Northwestern crest
Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois

Northwestern University did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in Illinois ranking, coming in at #6. Evanston, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out masters’s design degrees to 6 students in 2020-2021.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.6% 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 6 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%.

Full Northwestern University Design & Applied Arts Report

7
Columbia crest
Columbia College Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

Columbia College Chicago came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Design Major in Illinois ranking. Columbia College Chicago is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 271 masters’s degrees in 2020-2021.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at Columbia

Notes and References

References

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

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