2024 Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region
80Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region
7,125Design Degrees Awarded
$31,489Avg Early-Career Salary
Ranked #36 in popularity, design & applied arts is one of the most sought-after degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.
College Factual reviewed 80 schools in the Middle Atlantic Region to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of design & applied arts. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 7,125 degrees in design & applied arts during the 2020-2021 academic year.
The design program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Design & Applied Arts rankings. For our Best Overall Design & Applied Arts School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
The design school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
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Best Schools for Design & Applied Arts in the Middle Atlantic Region
The schools below may not offer all types of design degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
It is hard to beat Carnegie Mellon University if you want to pursue a degree in design & applied arts. Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #9 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Carnegie Mellon is a great university overall.
There were roughly 69 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Carnegie Mellon in the most recent year we have data available. Design & Applied Arts degree recipients from Carnegie Mellon University receive an earnings boost of about $55,909 above the average income of design & applied arts graduates.
It is difficult to beat University of Pennsylvania if you wish to pursue a degree in design & applied arts. Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #4 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.
There were about 6 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent data year.
It is difficult to beat Fashion Institute of Technology if you wish to pursue a degree in design & applied arts. Located in the large city of New York, FIT SUNY is a public school with a medium-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #85 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means FIT SUNY is a great school overall.
There were roughly 1400 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at FIT SUNY in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the design program report average early career wages of $29,209.
Every student who is interested in design & applied arts needs to look into The New School. New School University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York. This school ranks 15th out of 142 colleges for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were roughly 544 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at New School University in the most recent year we have data available. Design & Applied Arts degree recipients from The New School earn a boost of about $12,706 over the average earnings of design & applied arts majors.
Located in the large city of Brooklyn, Pratt Institute is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.
There were about 618 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Pratt Institute in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the design & applied arts program at Pratt Institute - Main make $12,488 more than the typical college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
Located in the large city of Baltimore, MICA is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
There were about 334 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at MICA in the most recent data year. Design & Applied Arts degree recipients from Maryland Institute College of Art earn a boost of about $5,663 above the average earnings of design & applied arts majors.
Located in the large city of Philadelphia, Drexel is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #125 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Drexel is a great university overall.
There were about 205 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Drexel in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the design & applied arts major at Drexel University get $11,574 above the average college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Syracuse is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Syracuse. This university ranks 12th out of 142 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were about 102 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Syracuse in the most recent data year. Those design & applied arts students who get their degree from Syracuse University make $8,911 more than the standard design student.
GWU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Washington. A Best Colleges rank of #49 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means GWU is a great university overall.
There were roughly 47 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at GWU in the most recent year we have data available. Those design & applied arts students who get their degree from George Washington University make $16,861 more than the average design student.
UD is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Newark. A Best Colleges rank of #118 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UD is a great university overall.
There were about 24 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at UD in the most recent year we have data available. Design & Applied Arts degree recipients from University of Delaware get an earnings boost of about $12,376 above the average income of design & applied arts graduates.
RIT is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Rochester. This school ranks 22nd out of 142 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were approximately 171 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at RIT in the most recent year we have data available. After graduation, design degree recipients typically make about $32,795 at the beginning of their careers.
Located in the city of Philadelphia, Temple is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 11th out of 109 schools for overall quality in the state of Pennsylvania.
There were approximately 71 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Temple in the most recent data year. Design & Applied Arts degree recipients from Temple University earn a boost of about $11,558 above the typical earnings of design & applied arts majors.
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Here are some additional great schools for Design & Applied Arts students in the Middle Atlantic Region that almost earned our Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region award.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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 the rest 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).
college factual
The design program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Design & Applied Arts rankings. For our Best Overall Design & Applied Arts School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
