2023 Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Schools
Finding the Best Visual & Performing Arts School for You
In 2020-2021, 18,379 people earned a degree or certificate in visual and performing arts, making the major the #11 most popular in the United States.
With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.
Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 528 schools in the United States to see which ones were the most popular programs for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Visual & Performing Arts program at each school on the list.
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2023 Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Schools in the United States
Check out the visual and performing arts programs at these schools if you want to attend one of the most popular in the United States.
Top 25 Most Popular Schools in Visual & Performing Arts
Our analysis found New York University to be the most popular school for visual and performing arts students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Located in the large city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Savannah College of Art and Design. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Schools list. Located in the medium-sized city of Savannah, SCAD is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at Savannah College of Art and Design
A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of Southern California is a great place for visual and performing arts students. USC is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.
Full Visual & Performing Arts at University of Southern California Report
The excellent programs at Full Sail University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best visual and performing arts schools in the United States. Full Sail University is a very large private for-profit school located in the large suburb of Winter Park.
Full Visual & Performing Arts at Full Sail University Report
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Indiana University - Bloomington. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Schools list. IU Bloomington is a very large public school located in the city of Bloomington.
Pratt Institute - Main came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Schools ranking. Pratt Institute is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Brooklyn.
Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at Pratt Institute - Main
Academy of Art University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Schools ranking. Academy of Art University is a moderately-sized private for-profit school located in the city of San Francisco.
The New School landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular visual and performing arts programs. Located in the large city of New York, New School University is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
With a ranking of #9, Columbia University in the City of New York did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for visual and performing arts students. Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.
Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at Columbia University in the City of New York
With a ranking of #10, University of Cincinnati - Main Campus did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for visual and performing arts students. UC is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Cincinnati.
With a ranking of #11, Yale University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for visual and performing arts students. Located in the medium-sized city of New Haven, Yale is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
Maryland Institute College of Art came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Schools ranking. MICA is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Baltimore.
Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at Maryland Institute College of Art
New York Film Academy came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Schools ranking. Located in the midsize city of Burbank, New York Film Academy is a private for-profit college with a small student population.
Full Visual & Performing Arts at New York Film Academy Report
University of California - Los Angeles did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for visual and performing arts students. It came in at #14 on the list. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at University of California - Los Angeles
Florida State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for visual and performing arts students. It came in at #15 on the list. Florida State is a very large public school located in the city of Tallahassee.
Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at Florida State University
Berklee College of Music did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for visual and performing arts students. It came in at #16 on the list. Located in the city of Boston, Berklee College of Music is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.
Full Visual & Performing Arts at Berklee College of Music Report
Carnegie Mellon University landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular visual and performing arts programs. Carnegie Mellon is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Pittsburgh.
Northwestern University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for visual and performing arts students. It came in at #18 on the list. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.
With a ranking of #19, School of the Art Institute of Chicago did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for visual and performing arts students. Located in the city of Chicago, School of the Art Institute of Chicago is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Full Visual & Performing Arts at School of the Art Institute of Chicago Report
Michigan State University came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Schools ranking. Michigan State is a fairly large public school located in the city of East Lansing.
Full Visual & Performing Arts at Michigan State University Report
With a ranking of #21, Manhattan School of Music did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for visual and performing arts students. Manhattan School of Music is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.
Full Visual & Performing Arts at Manhattan School of Music Report
With a ranking of #22, Boston University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for visual and performing arts students. Located in the large city of Boston, Boston U is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.
The University of Texas at Austin ranked #23 on this year’s Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Schools list. Located in the city of Austin, UT Austin is a public college with a very large student population.
University of North Texas came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Schools ranking. UNT is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Denton.
Full Visual & Performing Arts at University of North Texas Report
With a ranking of #25, The New England Conservatory of Music did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for visual and performing arts students. The New England Conservatory of Music is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Boston.
Rest of the Top 50 Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Schools
Remaining Award Winners
This section represents the remainder of the colleges awarded a Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Schools badge. Showing in this list means the school was ranked in the top 15% of the 528 different United States visual and performing arts schools we analyzed.
Additional Noteworthy Schools
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also popular but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Schools award.
Visual & Performing Arts by Region
View the Most Popular Visual & Performing Arts Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
Majors Related to Visual & Performing Arts
Visual & Performing Arts Majors to Study
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Music | 7,675 |
| Fine & Studio Arts | 3,224 |
| Design & Applied Arts | 1,979 |
| Film, Video & Photographic Arts | 1,704 |
| Drama & Theater Arts | 1,699 |
| Arts & Media Management | 1,184 |
| General Visual & Performing Arts | 390 |
| Dance | 257 |
| Other Visual Art | 254 |
| Crafts, Folk Art & Artisanry | 13 |
Most Popular Related Majors
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Theology & Religious Vocations | 17,287 |
| English Language & Literature | 9,566 |
| Foreign Languages & Linguistics | 4,163 |
| Philosophy & Religious Studies | 3,136 |
| Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities | 2,680 |
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).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to Bonnielou2013.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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