Find Grad Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

98 Colleges
$17,567 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$52,263 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 1,979 people earned a degree or certificate in design and applied arts, making the major the #91 most popular in the United States.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 98 schools in the United States to see which master's degree 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.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. 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.

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

2023 Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools in the United States

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

Top 15% Best Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools

#1

Lindenwood University

Saint Charles, MO

Our 2023 rankings named Lindenwood University the best value school in the United States for design and applied arts students working on their master’s degree. Lindenwood University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Saint Charles.

Lindenwood University graduate students pay an average of $9,784 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Lindenwood University

#2

Ferris State University

Big Rapids, MI

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Ferris State University is a great value for design and applied arts students working on their master’s degree. Located in the town of Big Rapids, Ferris is a public college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Ferris are $8,232 a year.

Full Design & Applied Arts at Ferris State University Report

Out of the 98 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Atlantic University College landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the small city of Guaynabo, Atlantic University College is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Atlantic University College are $4,605 a year.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Atlantic University College

#4

Liberty University

Lynchburg, VA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Liberty University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Lynchburg, Liberty University is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Liberty University are $8,360 a year.

Read More…

#5

Endicott College

Beverly, MA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Endicott College. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools list. Endicott is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Beverly.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Endicott are $12,746 per year.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Endicott College

#6

Marywood University

Scranton, PA

Marywood University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree design and applied arts programs. Marywood is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Scranton.

Marywood graduate students pay an average of $11,438 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Design & Applied Arts at Marywood University Report

University of Wisconsin - Stout landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree design and applied arts programs. Located in the distant town of Menomonie, UW - Stout is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UW - Stout are $17,213 per year.

UW - Stout also claimed a spot on our Best Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Read More…

University of Delaware came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools ranking. UD is a very large public school located in the large suburb of Newark.

UD graduate students pay an average of $18,128 in tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UD also is in the top 10% of our Best Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools ranking.

Full Design & Applied Arts at University of Delaware Report

#9

Mississippi College

Clinton, MS

Mississippi College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for design and applied arts students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. MC is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Clinton.

MC graduate students pay an average of $12,796 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Mississippi College

With a ranking of #10, Arizona State University - Skysong did quite well on this year’s best value schools for design and applied arts students working on their master’s degree. ASU - Skysong is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Scottsdale.

ASU - Skysong graduate students pay an average of $9,982 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

The University of Texas at Austin ranked #11 on this year’s Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools list. UT Austin is a fairly large public school located in the city of Austin.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UT Austin are $22,944 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, UT Austin also did well on our Best Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at The University of Texas at Austin

The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga ranked #12 on this year’s Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools list. UT Chattanooga is a large public school located in the medium-sized city of Chattanooga.

UT Chattanooga graduate students pay an average of $18,538 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

Illinois Institute of Technology ranked #13 on this year’s Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools list. Illinois Tech is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Illinois Tech are $30,822 a year.

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

#14

Clemson University

Clemson, SC

Clemson University came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Clemson is a very large public school located in the large suburb of Clemson.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Clemson are $23,246 a year.

Clemson excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools list.

Read More…

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
15 Kutztown University of Pennsylvania Kutztown, PA
16 Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus Atlanta, GA
17 Oklahoma State University - Main Campus Stillwater, OK
18 Brenau University Gainesville, GA
18 University of North Texas Denton, TX

Design & Applied Arts by Region

View the Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

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 25 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.