Major Rankings

Best Colleges for Design and Applied Arts

Ranked by graduate earnings. Data from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard — updated 2026.

Programs tracked: 290

Avg grad salary: $43,280

Total graduates: 19,864

Top Colleges for Design and Applied Arts — Ranked by Graduate Earnings

Showing schools with reported earnings data. Earnings reflect median graduate salary 4 years after graduation (or 1 year where 4-year data is unavailable).

#	School	Median Salary (4yr)	Starting Salary (1yr)	Graduates	Median Debt	Admit Rate
1	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA	$126,932	$66,274	27	$24,500	11.4%
2	Northeastern University Boston, MA	$81,078	$49,727	44	$28,250	9.9%
3	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	$80,616	$62,182	74	$14,418	8.2%
4	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	$77,464	$53,022	41	$15,637	5.9%
5	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	$77,066	$52,210	57	$18,112	7.1%
6	UC Berkeley Berkeley, CA	$76,374	$43,696	213	$11,180	11.7%
7	UT Austin Austin, TX	$76,309	$44,506	41	$22,500	29.1%
8	Georgia Tech Atlanta, GA	$74,666	$52,694	30	$26,354	16.5%
9	Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA	$71,818	$51,720	62	$18,500	43.8%
10	University of Washington Seattle, WA	$71,597	$63,449	28	$12,250	42.5%
11	RPI Troy, NY	$71,567	$36,191	29	$25,000	58.5%
12	Art Center College of Design Pasadena, CA	$71,547	$47,053	246	$31,050	75.0%
13	Chapman University Orange, CA	$69,235	$46,519	25	$23,000	55.6%
14	Boston University Boston, MA	$69,156	$49,254	23	$21,250	10.8%
15	UCLA Los Angeles, CA	$68,882	$57,615	33	$20,000	8.7%
16	University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA	$68,510	$47,368	68	$21,230	16.9%
17	Western Washington University Bellingham, WA	$68,445	$34,857	73	$20,000	91.3%
18	Seattle Pacific University Seattle, WA	$68,201	$39,248	42	$26,000	91.1%
19	Northeastern University Professional Programs Boston, MA	$67,761	$47,465	142	$23,250	N/A
20	University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI	$66,507	$50,556	237	$20,376	17.9%
21	Marist University Poughkeepsie, NY	$66,343	$41,818	36	$26,929	64.7%
22	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	$65,839	$46,825	32	$20,250	12.4%
23	George Washington University Washington, DC	$65,477	$50,552	27	$25,000	43.5%
24	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA	$65,184	$55,162	139	$18,500	15.7%
25	Roger Williams University Bristol, RI	$64,953	$33,596	35	$26,000	87.8%
26	American University Washington, DC	$64,488	$36,980	30	$22,611	47.4%
27	University of Maryland College Park, MD	$63,691	$43,696	279	$20,000	44.8%
28	Fairfield University Fairfield, CT	$63,356	$46,677	83	$27,000	45.0%
29	USC Los Angeles, CA	$63,317	$64,846	27	$18,262	10.0%
30	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ	$63,294	$42,993	256	$19,750	85.7%
31	St. Thomas Aquinas College Sparkill, NY	$62,832	$28,480	16	N/A	82.2%
32	Seattle University Seattle, WA	$62,478	$39,316	36	$19,500	76.0%
33	Loyola University Maryland Baltimore, MD	$62,264	$42,640	115	$27,000	76.3%
34	Pace University New York, NY	$62,219	$35,992	152	$26,000	77.1%
35	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	$62,198	$43,144	58	$19,839	24.0%
36	Fordham University Bronx, NY	$62,162	$46,405	147	$25,700	56.3%
37	The Catholic University of America Washington, DC	$62,150	$43,259	20	$27,000	83.8%
38	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA	$62,097	$38,154	245	$27,000	77.5%
39	Wentworth Institute of Technology Boston, MA	$61,703	$50,599	93	$27,000	85.4%
40	Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX	$61,473	$32,123	80	$21,500	42.6%
41	Villanova University Villanova, PA	$61,471	$52,294	148	$26,456	25.1%
42	University of San Francisco San Francisco, CA	$61,461	$39,000	30	$26,500	50.8%
43	Sacred Heart University Fairfield, CT	$61,393	$28,884	87	$26,399	67.7%
44	Bryant University Smithfield, RI	$61,344	$45,071	42	$27,000	65.6%
45	UIUC Champaign, IL	$61,211	$37,808	87	$18,839	43.7%
46	University of Delaware Newark, DE	$61,186	$42,585	57	$26,000	65.1%
47	UC Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	$61,114	$46,598	380	$13,018	27.8%
48	UC Davis Davis, CA	$60,820	$42,569	200	$15,000	41.6%
49	Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA	$60,597	$41,113	118	$19,500	40.3%
50	Cal Poly SLO San Luis Obispo, CA	$60,521	$62,183	41	$14,928	29.8%
51	Rutgers University New Brunswick, NJ	$60,479	$43,649	37	$27,000	65.3%
52	University of Dayton Dayton, OH	$60,466	$43,609	17	$25,375	61.7%
53	California State University-East Bay Hayward, CA	$60,326	$35,722	119	$18,250	96.8%
54	Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC	$60,234	$42,055	56	$22,250	21.6%
55	University of Massachusetts-Amherst Amherst, MA	$60,224	$36,380	203	$25,125	57.8%
56	Elon University Elon, NC	$60,125	$48,637	20	$24,526	67.3%
57	Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA	$59,906	$46,761	57	$25,802	57.0%
58	Colorado State University Global Denver, CO	$59,821	$49,436	58	$32,010	92.9%
59	Manhattan University Riverdale, NY	$59,580	$44,016	83	$26,000	78.5%
60	UNC Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	$59,487	$43,348	653	$15,500	18.7%

Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. Earnings are median among graduates who received federal financial aid.

Choosing the Best Design and Applied Arts Program

Graduate Earnings

Median salary 4 years post-graduation measures the long-term ROI of a program. Higher earnings with lower debt means better financial outcomes.

Program Size

Graduate count signals program maturity. Larger programs often have stronger alumni networks and more job placement resources.

Debt-to-Earnings Ratio

Compare median debt against starting salary. A ratio below 1x means most graduates can repay loans within a year of earnings.

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