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2024 Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois

19 Colleges in Illinois
4,186 Bachelor's Degrees
$25,369 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on getting your bachelor's degree in visual & performing arts, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #9 in the country in terms of popularity. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 19 schools in Illinois to determine which ones were the best for visual & performing arts students pursuing a bachelor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 4,186 bachelor's degrees in visual & performing arts during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

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

Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois The visual & performing arts bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we consider a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a combination of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their bachelor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your bachelor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

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 visual & performing arts students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Visual & Performing Arts Schools

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

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Visual & Performing Arts in Illinois

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in visual & performing arts.

10 Top Illinois Schools for a Bachelor's in Visual & Performing Arts

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
197 Annual Graduates

Northwestern University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in visual & performing arts. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from Northwestern University

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
228 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in visual & performing arts needs to look into University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. UIUC is a very large public university located in the city of Champaign.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

3
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
576 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in visual & performing arts has to take a look at School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Located in the large city of Chicago, School of the Art Institute of Chicago is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from School of the Art Institute of Chicago

4
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
837 Annual Graduates

Columbia College Chicago is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in visual & performing arts. Columbia is a medium-sized private not-for-profit college located in the city of Chicago.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from Columbia College Chicago

5
55 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Wheaton, Wheaton College Illinois is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from Wheaton College Illinois

6
DePaul crest
DePaul University
Chicago, IL
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
401 Annual Graduates

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

7
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
255 Annual Graduates

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

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
155 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Chicago, UIC is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from University of Illinois at Chicago

9
Basic Certificate Highest Degree Type
107 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Decatur, Millikin is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from Millikin University

10
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
144 Annual Graduates

Located in the small suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from Northern Illinois University

Best Visual & Performing Arts Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Visual & Performing Arts Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Michigan 35 2,496
Ohio 34 3,472
Indiana 33 1,752
Wisconsin 31 1,754

View All Rankings >

Visual & Performing Arts Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts 1,222
Design & Applied Arts 768
Drama & Theater Arts 746
Music 681
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 468
Arts & Media Management 154
Other Visual Art 62
General Visual & Performing Arts 49
Dance 34
Crafts, Folk Art & Artisanry 2

Notes and References

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