by our College Data Analytics TeamFor its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 238 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for art history students pursuing a bachelor's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 2,490 bachelor's degrees in art history to qualified students.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
Your choice of art history for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality art history program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
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 account for this we consider a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a collection of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
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 art history students working on their bachelor's degree.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Art History Bachelor's Degree Schools ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
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.
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in art history. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
Every student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in art history needs to check out University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. Located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
University of Southern California is a wonderful choice for students interested in a bachelor's degree in art history. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from University of Southern California
University of Notre Dame is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in art history. Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Notre Dame.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from University of Notre Dame
It's difficult to beat University of Washington - Seattle Campus if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in art history. UW Seattle is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Seattle.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from University of Washington - Seattle Campus
Duke is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Durham.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from Duke University
Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from University of California - Berkeley
UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from University of Pennsylvania
UW - Madison is a fairly large public university located in the city of Madison.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from University of Wisconsin - Madison
Yale is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New Haven.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from Yale University
Emory is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Atlanta.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from Emory University
WUSTL is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Saint Louis.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from Washington University in St Louis
Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from Columbia University in the City of New York
UCLA is a very large public university located in the large city of Los Angeles.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from University of California - Los Angeles
Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from Northwestern University
UT Austin is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Austin.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from The University of Texas at Austin
Located in the large suburb of College Park, UMCP is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from University of Maryland - College Park
Located in the town of Hanover, Dartmouth is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from Dartmouth College
UGA is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Athens.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from University of Georgia
UMN Twin Cities is a very large public university located in the city of Minneapolis.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
SMU is a large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Dallas.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from Southern Methodist University
NYU is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from New York University
UCSB is a fairly large public university located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from University of California - Santa Barbara
Located in the large city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from Ohio State University - Main Campus
UIUC is a very large public university located in the small city of Champaign.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Located in the large city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in art history from Vanderbilt University
Here are some additional great schools for Art History students that almost earned our Best Art History Bachelor's Degree Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 36 | Boston University | Boston, MA |
| 37 | Brown University | Providence, RI |
| 38 | Rice University | Houston, TX |
| 39 | Brandeis University | Waltham, MA |
| 40 | University of California - Davis | Davis, CA |
| 41 | Brigham Young University - Provo | Provo, UT |
| 42 | Massachusetts College of Art and Design | Boston, MA |
| 43 | George Washington University | Washington, DC |
| 44 | University of Arizona | Tucson, AZ |
| 45 | Western Washington University | Bellingham, WA |
| 46 | Skidmore College | Saratoga Springs, NY |
| 47 | Pratt Institute - Main | Brooklyn, NY |
View the Best Art History Bachelor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
One of 13 majors within the Fine & Studio Arts area of study, Art History has other similar majors worth exploring.
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Art Studies | 9,967 |
| Fine Arts | 9,702 |
| Intermedia/Multimedia | 718 |
| Painting | 501 |
| Other Fine Arts & Art Studies | 397 |
| Drawing | 258 |
| Sculpture | 180 |
| Fiber, Textile & Weaving Arts | 130 |
| Printmaking | 119 |
| Ceramic Arts & Ceramics | 72 |
