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Best Design & Applied Arts Graduate Certificate Schools

2023 Best Design & Applied Arts Graduate Certificate Schools

14 Colleges

Finding the Best Design & Applied Arts Graduate Certificate School for You

Design & Applied Arts is the #36 most popular major in the country with 36,301 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

The Best Design & Applied Arts Graduate Certificate Schools ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 14 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best graduate certificate programs for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Design & Applied Arts Graduate Certificate Schools in the United States

The colleges and universities below are the best for design majors pursuing a graduate certificate.

Top 10 Best Design & Applied Arts Graduate Certificate Schools

#1

Michigan State University

East Lansing, MI

Our 2023 rankings named Michigan State University the best school in the United States for design and applied arts students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania is a great place for design and applied arts students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the small city of Bloomsburg, Bloomsburg is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

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#3

American University

Washington, DC

The excellent graduate certificate programs at American University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best design and applied arts schools in the United States. The American University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Washington.

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#4

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

The excellent graduate certificate programs at University of Pennsylvania helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best design and applied arts schools in the United States. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.

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The excellent graduate certificate programs at Iowa State University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best design and applied arts schools in the United States. Iowa State is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Ames.

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With a ranking of #6, Bowling Green State University - Main Campus did quite well on this year’s best schools for design and applied arts students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the town of Bowling Green, BGSU is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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#7

University of Kansas

Lawrence, KS

University of Kansas came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Design & Applied Arts Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Located in the city of Lawrence, KU is a public college with a very large student population.

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#8

Marywood University

Scranton, PA

Marywood University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for design and applied arts students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #8 on the list. Marywood is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Scranton.

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Arizona State University - Skysong came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Design & Applied Arts Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. ASU - Skysong is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Scottsdale.

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Mercyhurst University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best graduate certificate design and applied arts programs. Mercyhurst is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Erie.

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Design & Applied Arts by Region

View the Best Design & Applied Arts Graduate Certificate Schools for a specific region near you.

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

One of 10 majors within the area of study, design and applied arts has other similar majors worth exploring.

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 14 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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