Find Affordable College Courses

What Do You Want to Study?

Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Southwest Region

2023 Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Southwest Region

48 Colleges
$29,079 Avg Salary
$23,287 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Design & Applied Arts 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.

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 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 Schools in the Southwest Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 48 schools in the Southwest Region to see which programs offered the best educational experiences for students.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Southwest Region

Check out the design programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.

Top 10 Best Design & Applied Arts Schools

Our analysis found The University of Texas at Austin to be the best school for design and applied arts students who want to pursue a degree in the Southwest Region . UT Austin is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Austin.

After completing their degree, design graduates from UT Austin carry an average student debtload of $19,750.

Read More…

Request Information
#2

Texas Christian University

Fort Worth, TX

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Texas Christian University is a great place for design and applied arts students. Located in the city of Fort Worth, TCU is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Texas Christian University

Request Information

Out of the 48 schools in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Oklahoma State University - Main Campus landed the # 3 spot on the list. OSU is a very large public school located in the distant town of Stillwater.

Full Design & Applied Arts at Oklahoma State University - Main Campus Report

Request Information

Out of the 48 schools in the Southwest Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Methodist University landed the # 4 spot on the list. SMU is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Dallas.

Read More…

Request Information
#5

Texas Tech University

Lubbock, TX

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Texas Tech University is a great place for design and applied arts students. Texas Tech is a very large public school located in the large city of Lubbock.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Texas Tech University

Request Information

American Institute of Interior Design landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best design and applied arts programs. Located in the midsize city of Fountain Hills, AIID is a private for-profit college with a fairly small student population.

The average amount in student loans that design majors at AIID take out is $8,313.

Read More…

Request Information

Scottsdale Community College landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best design and applied arts programs. Located in the rural area of Scottsdale, Scottsdale Community College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Design majors at Scottsdale Community College take out an average of $12,000 in student loans while working on their egree.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Scottsdale Community College

Request Information
#8

Baylor University

Waco, TX

Baylor University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Southwest Region list. Baylor is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Waco.

The average amount in student loans that design majors at Baylor take out is $27,000.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Baylor University

Request Information

With a ranking of #9, University of Oklahoma Norman Campus did quite well on this year’s best schools for design and applied arts students. Located in the midsize suburb of Norman, University of Oklahoma is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Design majors at University of Oklahoma take out an average of $27,000 in student loans while working on their egree.

Full Design & Applied Arts at University of Oklahoma Norman Campus Report

Request Information

West Texas A&M University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for design and applied arts students. It came in at #10 on the list. West Texas A&M University is a moderately-sized public school located in the town of Canyon.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at West Texas A&M University

Request Information

Best Design & Applied Arts Colleges by State

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

State Degrees Awarded
Texas 1,449
Arizona 594
Oklahoma 211
New Mexico 30

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 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.

Find Schools Near You

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