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2024 Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Washington

11 Colleges in Washington
348 Bachelor's Degrees
$34,116 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you pursue a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #27 most popular program in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 11 schools in Washington to determine which ones were the best for design & applied arts students pursuing a bachelor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 348 bachelor's degrees in design & applied arts during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Design & Applied Arts School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Washington Your choice of design & applied arts for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality design program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we include a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a combination of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for design & applied arts students working on their bachelor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Washington list to help you make the college decision.

In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Design & Applied Arts in Washington

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts.

10 Top Washington Schools for a Bachelor's in Design

1
35 Annual Graduates
$49,494 Median Starting Salary
$12,250 Median Student Debt

Every student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts has to look into University of Washington - Seattle Campus. UW Seattle is a very large public university located in the city of Seattle.

Design & Applied Arts bachelor's degree recipients from University of Washington - Seattle Campus receive an earnings boost of around $15,378 over the typical earnings of design & applied arts graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from University of Washington - Seattle Campus

2
61 Annual Graduates
$39,818 Median Starting Salary
$20,000 Median Student Debt

It's hard to beat Western Washington University if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. Located in the city of Bellingham, WWU is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Those design & applied arts students who get their bachelor's degree from Western Washington University earn $5,702 more than the standard design grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Western Washington University

3
30 Annual Graduates
$38,730 Median Starting Salary
$26,000 Median Student Debt

Seattle Pacific University is a great choice for students interested in a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. Located in the large city of Seattle, SPU is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the design & applied arts degree program at Seattle Pacific University earn $4,614 above the average college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Seattle Pacific University

4
34 Annual Graduates
$27,553 Median Starting Salary
$27,000 Median Student Debt

Cornish College of the Arts is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. Located in the large city of Seattle, Cornish College of the Arts is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the design program make about $27,553 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Cornish College of the Arts

5
33 Annual Graduates
$42,683 Median Starting Salary
$22,802 Median Student Debt

Wazzu is a fairly large public university located in the distant town of Pullman.

Bachelor's recipients from the design & applied arts major at Washington State University get $8,567 above the standard graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Washington State University

6
Walla Walla U crest
Walla Walla University
College Place, WA
15 Annual Graduates
$25,370 Median Starting Salary
$28,000 Median Student Debt

Walla Walla U is a small private not-for-profit university located in the small suburb of College Place.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the design program make around $25,370 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Walla Walla University

7
Seattle U crest
Seattle University
Seattle, WA
37 Annual Graduates
$20,602 Median Starting Salary
$23,792 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of Seattle, Seattle U is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the design program report average early career wages of $20,602.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Seattle University

8
19 Annual Graduates

CWU is a medium-sized public university located in the town of Ellensburg.More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Central Washington University

9
BC crest
Bellevue College
Bellevue, WA
45 Annual Graduates
$34,563 Median Starting Salary
$33,660 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of Bellevue, BC is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the design program make about $34,563 in their early career salary.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Bellevue College

10

Located in the large suburb of Kirkland, LWTech is a public school with a small student population.

Soon after graduation, design bachelor's recipients typically make around $34,296 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Lake Washington Institute of Technology

Best Design & Applied Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Design & Applied Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
California 262 2,446
Oregon 185 303
Nevada 129 61
Hawaii 112 10

View All Rankings >

One of 10 majors within the Visual & Performing Arts area of study, Design & Applied Arts has other similar majors worth exploring.

Design Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Visual Communications 145
Interior Design 95
Industrial Design 41
Commercial & Advertising Art 37
Graphic Design 24
Fashion Design 6

Related Major Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts 390
Drama & Theater Arts 210
Music 205
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 126
Dance 50
General Visual & Performing Arts 13
Other Visual Art 10
Arts & Media Management 5

Notes and References

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