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Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

65 Colleges
$33,319 Avg Salary
$28,541 Avg Student Debt

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

Out of all the majors we analyze each year, design and applied arts was ranked #36 in the country. In fact 36,301 degrees and certificates were handed out in 2020-2021.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 65 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best bachelor's degree programs for students. Factors related to overall quality of the school, post-graduation earnings, average student debt, and more accumulated were considered when coming up with this list.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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

Top 10 Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools

#1

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN

Our 2023 rankings named University of Notre Dame the best school in the Great Lakes Region for design and applied arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the large suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Lawrence Technological University is a great place for design and applied arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Lawrence Tech is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Southfield.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Lawrence Technological University

The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at University of Wisconsin - Madison helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best design and applied arts schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the large city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public college with a very large student population.

The average amount in student loans that design majors at UW - Madison take out while working on their Bachelor's Degree is $21,060.

Read More…

The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best design and applied arts schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public college with a fairly large student population.

While working on their Bachelor's Degree, design majors at UIUC accumulate an average of around $21,307 in student debt. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $501, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

#5

Purdue University - Main Campus

West Lafayette, IN

The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at Purdue University - Main Campus helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best design and applied arts schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the small city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public college with a very large student population.

Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $329.

Full Design & Applied Arts at Purdue University - Main Campus Report

The Modern College of Design did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for design and applied arts students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. The Modern College of Design is a small private for-profit school located in the city of Kettering.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at The Modern College of Design

University of Cincinnati - Main Campus ranked #7 on this year’s Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. UC is a fairly large public school located in the city of Cincinnati.

Design majors at UC take out an average of $24,382 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $365, based on a 10-year repayment plan.

Full Design & Applied Arts at University of Cincinnati - Main Campus Report

With a ranking of #8, University of Wisconsin - Stout did quite well on this year’s best schools for design and applied arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. UW - Stout is a medium-sized public school located in the distant town of Menomonie.

While working on their Bachelor's Degree, design majors at UW - Stout accumulate an average of around $24,522 in student debt. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $131, based on a 10-year repayment plan.

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

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for design and applied arts students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public college with a very large student population.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

College for Creative Studies ranked #10 on this year’s Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the large city of Detroit, CCS is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

While working on their Bachelor's Degree, design majors at CCS accumulate an average of around $28,655 in student debt. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $594, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.

Full Design & Applied Arts at College for Creative Studies Report

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional great schools for Design & Applied Arts students in the Great Lakes Region that almost earned our Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.

Rank College Location
11 Michigan State University East Lansing, MI
12 University of Evansville Evansville, IN
13 Illinois State University Normal, IL

Best Design & Applied Arts Colleges by State

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

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 1,011
Ohio 1,456
Illinois 979
Indiana 417
Wisconsin 717

Design & Applied Arts is one of 10 different types of programs to choose from.

Majors Similar to Design

Related Major Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts 37,413
Music 25,910
Drama & Theater Arts 17,341
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 16,778
General Visual & Performing Arts 6,355

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • 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.

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