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

12 Colleges in Illinois
768 Bachelor's Degrees
$31,678 Avg Early-Career Salary
Design & Applied Arts is of the hottest bachelor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #27 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

College Factual reviewed 12 schools in Illinois to determine which ones were the best for bachelor's degree seekers in the field of design & applied arts. Combined, these schools handed out 768 bachelor's degrees in design & applied arts to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

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

Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois The design bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

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.

More Ways to Rank Design & Applied Arts Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Design Rankings Other Ranking Categories

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois list, to help you choose the best school for you.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique 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 Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Design & Applied Arts in Illinois

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts.

10 Top Illinois Schools for a Bachelor's in Design

1
105 Annual Graduates
$44,353 Median Starting Salary
$18,839 Median Student Debt

It is hard to beat University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the design & applied arts major at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign make $12,676 more than the standard college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2
271 Annual Graduates
$29,065 Median Starting Salary
$27,000 Median Student Debt

Every student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts needs to take a look at Columbia College Chicago. Located in the large city of Chicago, Columbia is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the design program earn around $29,065 in their early career salary.

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

3
66 Annual Graduates
$33,866 Median Starting Salary
$25,750 Median Student Debt

Every student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts has to look into University of Illinois at Chicago. UIC is a fairly large public university located in the city of Chicago.

Bachelor's recipients from the design & applied arts program at University of Illinois at Chicago earn $2,189 above the average graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from University of Illinois at Chicago

4
DePaul crest
DePaul University
Chicago, IL
77 Annual Graduates
$32,912 Median Starting Salary
$27,000 Median Student Debt

DePaul University is a good option for students pursuing a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. Located in the city of Chicago, DePaul is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the design program make around $32,912 in their early career salary.

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

5

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

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the design program make about $32,786 for their early career.

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

6
25 Annual Graduates
$40,489 Median Starting Salary
$24,986 Median Student Debt

Located in the midsize suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Design & Applied Arts bachelor's degree recipients from Illinois State University get an earnings boost of approximately $8,812 over the average earnings of design & applied arts graduates.

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

7
North Central crest
North Central College
Naperville, IL
14 Annual Graduates
$39,366 Median Starting Salary
$22,000 Median Student Debt

Located in the medium-sized city of Naperville, North Central is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Those design & applied arts students who get their bachelor's degree from North Central College receive $7,689 more than the typical design grad.

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

8

Located in the city of Carbondale, SIUC is a public university with a large student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the design & applied arts major at Southern Illinois University Carbondale make $6,749 above the average college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Southern Illinois University Carbondale

9
14 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Loyola University Chicago

10
Dominican U crest
Dominican University
River Forest, IL
12 Annual Graduates
$27,196 Median Starting Salary
$26,978 Median Student Debt

Dominican U is a small private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of River Forest.

After graduating, design bachelor's recipients generally make around $27,196 in the first five years of their career.

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

Best Design & Applied Arts Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Design & Applied Arts Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Michigan 261 703
Ohio 252 1,074
Indiana 235 289
Wisconsin 213 396

View All Rankings >

Design & Applied Arts is one of 10 different types of Visual & Performing Arts programs to choose from.

Design Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Graphic Design 307
Game & Interactive Media Design 117
Fashion Design 90
Industrial Design 80
Interior Design 63
Illustration 52
Commercial & Advertising Art 30
Visual Communications 29

Related Major Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts 1,222
Drama & Theater Arts 746
Music 681
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 468
Arts & Media Management 154
Other Visual Art 62
General Visual & Performing Arts 49
Dance 34
Crafts, Folk Art & Artisanry 2

Notes and References

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