Find Grad Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Best Value Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Value Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

20 Colleges
$36,451 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$32,734 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Design & Applied Arts School for You

Design & Applied Arts is the #91 most popular major in the country with 1,979 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

There are so many programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Value Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 20 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which programs offered the best value experiences for design students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Region

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for design majors pursuing a .

Top 10 Best Design & Applied Arts Schools

#1

Ferris State University

Big Rapids, MI

Our 2023 rankings named Ferris State University the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for design and applied arts students. Located in the town of Big Rapids, Ferris is a public college with a large student population.

Ferris undergraduate students pay an average of $13,188 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Ferris State University

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Wisconsin - Stout. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the town of Menomonie, UW - Stout is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UW - Stout are $17,820 per year.

UW - Stout excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Full Design & Applied Arts at University of Wisconsin - Stout Report

$50,375 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 20 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Illinois Institute of Technology landed the # 3 spot on the list. Illinois Tech is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Illinois Tech are $50,375 per year.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Illinois Institute of Technology

$21,050 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Bowling Green State University - Main Campus. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the town of Bowling Green, BGSU is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at BGSU are $21,050 per year.

Read More…

#5

Purdue University - Main Campus

West Lafayette, IN

Out of the 20 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Purdue University - Main Campus landed the # 5 spot on the list. Purdue is a very large public school located in the small city of West Lafayette.

Purdue undergraduate students pay an average of $28,794 in tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Purdue also is in the top 10% of our Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Purdue University - Main Campus

#6

Michigan State University

East Lansing, MI

Michigan State University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value design and applied arts programs. Located in the city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Michigan State are $41,290 a year.

Michigan State excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Full Design & Applied Arts at Michigan State University Report

$22,810 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #7, Ohio University - Athens Campus did quite well on this year’s best value schools for design and applied arts students. OHIO Athens is a fairly large public school located in the distant town of Athens.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at OHIO Athens are $22,810 a year.

Full Design & Applied Arts at Ohio University - Athens Campus Report

#8

DePaul University

Chicago, IL
$42,012 Average Tuition & Fees

DePaul University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. DePaul is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

DePaul undergraduate students pay an average of $42,012 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

#9

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN

University of Notre Dame did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for design and applied arts students. It came in at #9 on the list. Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Notre Dame.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Notre Dame are $58,843 a year.

Notre Dame also took the #3 spot in our Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Region rankings.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at University of Notre Dame

#10

Ball State University

Muncie, IN

Ball State University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value design and applied arts programs. Ball State is a very large public school located in the small city of Muncie.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Ball State are $27,524 a year.

Ball State also claimed a spot on our Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Ball State University

Best Design & Applied Arts Colleges by State

Explore the best design and applied arts schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 48
Illinois 75
Ohio 103
Indiana 16
Wisconsin 3

Design & Applied Arts is one of 9 different types of programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Music 7,675
Fine & Studio Arts 3,224
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 1,704
Drama & Theater Arts 1,699
Arts & Media Management 1,184

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 20 schools only.

  • 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 the rest 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).

More about our data sources and methodologies.

Featured Schools

Find Graduate Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited graduate schools across the U.S.