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Best Value Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

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2023 Best Value Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

11 Colleges
$8,295 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$23,224 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree 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.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 11 schools in the Plains States Region to see which associate 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 Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

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

Top 10 Best Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Alexandria Technical & Community College the best value school in the Plains States Region for design and applied arts students working on their associate degree. ATCC is a small public school located in the remote town of Alexandria.

ATCC undergraduate students pay an average of $5,910 in tuition and fees each year. After completing their Associate Degree, design graduates from ATCC carry an average student debtload of $14,460.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, ATCC also is in the top 15% of our Best Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking.

Full Design & Applied Arts at Alexandria Technical & Community College Report

The excellent associate degree programs at Metropolitan Community College helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value design and applied arts schools in the Plains States Region . Located in the large city of Omaha, MCC is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at MCC are $4,680 per year. On average, design graduates from MCC take out $13,937 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

In addition to its great value ranking, MCC is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list.

Read More…

#3

Johnson County Community College

Overland Park, KS

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Johnson County Community College is a great value for design and applied arts students working on their associate degree. Located in the city of Overland Park, JCCC is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at JCCC are $5,352 per year. After completing their Associate Degree, design graduates from JCCC carry an average student debtload of $14,972.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, JCCC also is in the top 5% of our Best Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Johnson County Community College

#4

Century College

White Bear Lake, MN

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Century College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. Century College is a medium-sized public school located in the suburb of White Bear Lake.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Century College are $5,907 per year. While working on their Associate Degree, design majors at Century College accumulate an average of around $18,527 in student debt.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Century College also is in the top 20% of our Best Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Century College

#5

Bismarck State College

Bismarck, ND

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Bismarck State College. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. BSC is a small public school located in the small city of Bismarck.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at BSC are $6,930 per year. On average, design graduates from BSC take out $12,189 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

BSC did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our Best Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list.

Full Design & Applied Arts at Bismarck State College Report

With a ranking of #6, Minneapolis Community and Technical College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for design and applied arts students working on their associate degree. Minneapolis Community and Technical College is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of Minneapolis.

Minneapolis Community and Technical College undergraduate students pay an average of $5,906 in tuition and fees each year. Design majors at Minneapolis Community and Technical College take out an average of $30,566 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

Full Design & Applied Arts at Minneapolis Community and Technical College Report

#7

University of South Dakota

Vermillion, SD

University of South Dakota did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for design and applied arts students to get a associate degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the town of Vermillion, USD is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at USD are $12,942 per year.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at University of South Dakota

#8

Saint Louis Community College

Saint Louis, MO

Saint Louis Community College ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the large suburb of Saint Louis, Saint Louis Community College is a public college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Saint Louis Community College are $7,155 a year. The average amount in student loans that design majors at Saint Louis Community College take out while working on their Associate Degree is $16,318.

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With a ranking of #9, Des Moines Area Community College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for design and applied arts students working on their associate degree. Located in the large suburb of Ankeny, DMACC is a public school with a very large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at DMACC are $10,440 per year. The average amount in student loans that design majors at DMACC take out while working on their Associate Degree is $16,657.

Read More…

Stevens - The Institute of Business & Arts ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list. Located in the large city of Saint Louis, Siba is a private for-profit school with a fairly small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Siba are $13,680 a year.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Stevens - The Institute of Business & Arts

Best Design & Applied Arts Colleges by State

Explore the best design and applied arts schools for a specific state in the Plains States region.

State Degrees Awarded
Missouri 432
Minnesota 533
Kansas 229
Iowa 481
Nebraska 223
North Dakota 36
South Dakota 57

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 11 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.

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