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2024 Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Southwest Region

42 Colleges in the Southwest Region
3,286 Design Degrees Awarded
$29,079 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you pursue a degree in design & applied arts, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #36 most popular program in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

College Factual looked at 42 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 3,286 degrees in design & applied arts during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Design & Applied Arts School

Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Southwest Region Your choice of design & applied arts school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for design & applied arts schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Design & Applied Arts Rankings by Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Design
Bachelor's Degrees in Design
Master's Degrees in Design

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Southwest Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision. You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.

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.

More information on how we come up with our rankings can be found here: College Factual's Data Methodology.

Best Schools for Design & Applied Arts in the Southwest Region

If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the design degrees they offer, see the list below.

10 Top Southwest Region Schools in Design

1
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
104 Design Degrees Awarded
35.6% Growth in Graduates

Any student who is interested in design & applied arts has to look into The University of Texas at Austin. UT Austin is a very large public university located in the city of Austin. A Best Colleges rank of #36 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UT Austin is a great university overall.

There were approximately 104 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at UT Austin in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the design & applied arts major at The University of Texas at Austin earn $24,056 above the average college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in design & applied arts from The University of Texas at Austin

2
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
43 Design Degrees Awarded
14.0% Growth in Graduates

It is difficult to beat Texas Christian University if you want to pursue a degree in design & applied arts. TCU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Fort Worth. A Best Colleges rank of #80 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means TCU is a great university overall.

There were roughly 43 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at TCU in the most recent year we have data available. Those design & applied arts students who get their degree from Texas Christian University earn $17,622 more than the average design student.

More information about a degree in design & applied arts from Texas Christian University

3
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
192 Design Degrees Awarded
$40,045 Median Starting Salary

Any student who is interested in design & applied arts has to look into Arizona State University - Tempe. Located in the medium-sized city of Tempe, ASU - Tempe is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #119 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means ASU - Tempe is a great university overall.

There were approximately 192 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at ASU - Tempe in the most recent year we have data available. Those design & applied arts students who get their degree from Arizona State University - Tempe earn $10,966 more than the standard design graduate.

More information about a degree in design & applied arts from Arizona State University - Tempe

4
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
149 Design Degrees Awarded
$31,268 Median Starting Salary

It is hard to beat Collin County Community College District if you wish to pursue a degree in design & applied arts. Located in the medium-sized suburb of McKinney, Collin County Community College District is a public college with a very large student population. This college ranks 22nd out of 115 colleges for overall quality in the state of Texas.

There were roughly 149 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Collin County Community College District in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the design & applied arts degree program at Collin County Community College District get $2,189 above the typical college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in design & applied arts from Collin County Community College District

5
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In OK
56 Design Degrees Awarded

Located in the distant town of Stillwater, OSU is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #227 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means OSU is a great university overall.

There were roughly 56 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at OSU in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in design & applied arts from Oklahoma State University - Main Campus

6
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
34 Design Degrees Awarded
$44,165 Median Starting Salary

University of Oklahoma is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized suburb of Norman. A Best Colleges rank of #140 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means University of Oklahoma is a great university overall.

There were approximately 34 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at University of Oklahoma in the most recent data year. Those design & applied arts students who get their degree from University of Oklahoma Norman Campus receive $15,086 more than the average design graduate.

More information about a degree in design & applied arts from University of Oklahoma Norman Campus

7
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
31 Design Degrees Awarded
$44,506 Median Starting Salary

Located in the midsize city of Waco, Baylor is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #123 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Baylor is a great university overall.

There were roughly 31 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Baylor in the most recent year we have data available. Those design & applied arts students who get their degree from Baylor University receive $15,427 more than the average design student.

More information about a degree in design & applied arts from Baylor University

8
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
144 Design Degrees Awarded
18.8% Growth in Graduates

UNT is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Denton. A Best Colleges rank of #280 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UNT is a great university overall.

There were about 144 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at UNT in the most recent year we have data available. Design & Applied Arts degree recipients from University of North Texas get an earnings boost of approximately $9,326 over the average income of design & applied arts graduates.

More information about a degree in design & applied arts from University of North Texas

9
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
39th Most Popular In TX
30.0% Growth in Graduates

SMU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Dallas. A Best Colleges rank of #73 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means SMU is a great university overall.

There were about 10 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at SMU in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in design & applied arts from Southern Methodist University

10
Associate Degree Highest Degree Type
81 Design Degrees Awarded
9.9% Growth in Graduates

Located in the large city of Austin, Austin Community College District is a public college with a fairly large student population. This college ranks 33rd out of 115 schools for overall quality in the state of Texas.

There were roughly 81 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Austin Community College District in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the design program make about $26,956 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a degree in design & applied arts from Austin Community College District

Best Design & Applied Arts Colleges by State

Explore the best design & applied arts colleges for a specific state in the Southwest Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Texas 317 1,449
Arizona 287 590
Oklahoma 257 211
New Mexico 219 30

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
Graphic Design 748
Interior Design 656
Visual Communications 634
Commercial & Advertising Art 381
Fashion Design 254
Game & Interactive Media Design 235
Commercial Photography 186
Other Design & Applied Arts 79
Industrial Design 66
Illustration 47

View All Design Concentrations >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts 7,643
Music 2,896
Drama & Theater Arts 1,410
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 1,036
General Visual & Performing Arts 844
Dance 413
Arts & Media Management 317
Other Visual Art 5
Community/Environmental/Socially-Engaged Art 1

View All Design Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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