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2024 Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region

83 Colleges in the Far Western US Region
16,572 Bachelor's Degrees
$26,235 Avg Early-Career Salary
a bachelor's degree in visual & performing arts is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #9 out of 38 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 83 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 16,572 bachelor's degrees in visual & performing arts during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Visual & Performing Arts School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region Your choice of visual & performing arts for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality visual & performing arts program can vary widely even among the top schools. 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 colleges for visual & performing arts students working on their bachelor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Visual & Performing Arts Rankings Other Ranking Categories

The visual & performing 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 the Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region.

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 Visual & Performing Arts in the Far Western US Region

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for visual & performing arts students seeking a a bachelor's degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

12 Top Far Western US Region Schools for a Bachelor's in Visual & Performing Arts

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
613 Annual Graduates

It is difficult to beat University of Southern California if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in visual & performing arts. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from University of Southern California

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
254 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat University of California - Berkeley if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in visual & performing arts. UC Berkeley is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Berkeley.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from University of California - Berkeley

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
285 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in visual & performing arts has to take a look at University of Washington - Seattle Campus. Located in the large city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from University of Washington - Seattle Campus

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
383 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in visual & performing arts has to take a look at University of California - Los Angeles. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from University of California - Los Angeles

5
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
292 Annual Graduates

Chapman is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Orange.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from Chapman University

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
469 Annual Graduates

UC Irvine is a very large public university located in the large city of Irvine.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from University of California - Irvine

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
374 Annual Graduates

Located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from University of California - Santa Barbara

8
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
243 Annual Graduates

Loyola Marymount is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from Loyola Marymount University

9
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
220 Annual Graduates

UCSD is a very large public university located in the city of La Jolla.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from University of California - San Diego

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
421 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from University of California - Davis

11
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
465 Annual Graduates

San Jose State is a very large public university located in the city of San Jose.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from San Jose State University

12
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
316 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized city of Pasadena, Art Center College of Design is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from Art Center College of Design

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region award.

Rank College Location
13 Western Washington University Bellingham, WA
14 California State University - Long Beach Long Beach, CA
15 California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA
16 University of California - Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA
17 San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA
18 University of California - Riverside Riverside, CA
19 California State University - Fullerton Fullerton, CA
20 San Diego State University San Diego, CA

Best Visual & Performing Arts Colleges by State

Explore the best visual & performing arts colleges for a specific state in the Far Western US Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
California 37 13,368
Washington 34 1,357
Hawaii 30 145
Oregon 30 1,262
Nevada 30 383
Alaska 29 57

View All Rankings >

Visual & Performing Arts Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts 4,906
Design & Applied Arts 3,168
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 3,017
Music 2,159
Drama & Theater Arts 2,047
General Visual & Performing Arts 551
Dance 418
Arts & Media Management 231
Other Visual Art 75

Notes and References

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