2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Visual & Performing Arts in the Great Lakes Region

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

In 2019-2020, 3,337 people earned their degree in visual and performing arts, making the major the 217th most popular in the United States.

Across the Great Lakes region, there were 214 visual and performing arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 28 visual and performing arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,075 and $25,381 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region” ranking looked at 4 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in visual and performing arts. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent visual and performing arts programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the visual and performing arts program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The visual arts 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 “Best Value Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region”.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region.

Top 4 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Visual & Performing Arts in the Great Lakes Region

#1

Oakland University

Rochester Hills, Michigan

#4 in overall quality

$11,802 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Oakland University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in Rochester Hills, Michigan, this fairly large public school handed out 1 degrees to qualified bachelors’s visual arts students in 2019-2020.

Oakland also took the #4 spot in our “Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Oakland is $11,802 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Visual Arts students.

Full Oakland University Visual & Performing Arts Report

#2

University of Illinois at Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$13,312 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Chicago. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region. UIC is a large public school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 8 bachelors’s visual arts degrees in 2019-2020.

UIC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of Illinois at Chicago is $13,312 for great lakes region bachelor’s degree visual arts students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Visual & Performing Arts at UIC

#3

University of St Francis

Joliet, Illinois

#2 in overall quality

$17,538 Average Net Price

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of St Francis landed the #3 spot on the list. University of St Francis is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Joliet, Illinois. It awarded 4 bachelors’s visual arts degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our great lakes region bachelor’s degree visual arts students list, University of Saint Francis has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of St Francis is $17,538 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Visual Arts students.

The low student loan default rate of 3.3% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at University of St Francis

#4

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

#3 in overall quality

$44,815 Average Net Price

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Visual Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, School of the Art Institute of Chicago landed the #4 spot on the list. School of the Art Institute of Chicago is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 10 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

School of the Art Institute of Chicago did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. The yearly cost to attend School of the Art Institute of Chicago is $44,815 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Visual Arts students.

With a student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.

Read more about Visual & Performing Arts at School of the Art Institute of Chicago

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Visual & Performing Arts

Notes and References

References

• 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 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).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to Sven Mandel / CC-BY-SA-4.0.

Featured Schools

Request Info

Southern New Hampshire University You have goals. Southern New Hampshire University can help you get there. Whether you need a bachelor's degree to get into a career or want a master's degree to move up in your current career, SNHU has an online program for you. Find your degree from over 200 online programs ... Learn More >