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Best Value Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Value Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

14 Colleges
$31,350 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$33,319 Avg Salary

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

With 979 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, design and applied arts is the #37 most popular major in Illinois.

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.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. This report analyzed 14 schools in Illinois to see which ones offered the best value bachelor's degree programs for design students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. 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.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois

Check out the design bachelor's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

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

Our analysis found Illinois State University to be the best value school for design and applied arts students who want to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Illinois. Located in the suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public college with a very large student population.

Illinois State undergraduate students pay an average of $13,968 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Illinois State also took the #5 spot in our Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois rankings.

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The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value design and applied arts schools in Illinois. UIUC is a very large public school located in the city of Champaign.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UIUC are $17,634 per year. 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.

UIUC not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #3 on our Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Illinois at Chicago. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the large city of Chicago, UIC is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UIC are $15,603 a year. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $295.

Full Design & Applied Arts at University of Illinois at Chicago Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the small city of Carbondale, SIUC is a public school with a large student population.

SIUC undergraduate students pay an average of $15,240 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Design & Applied Arts at Southern Illinois University Carbondale Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Columbia College Chicago. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Columbia is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Columbia are $27,786 a year. After completing their Bachelor's Degree, design graduates from Columbia carry an average student debtload of $29,562. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $485.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Columbia College Chicago

#6

Bradley University

Peoria, IL

Bradley University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Bradley is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Peoria.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Bradley are $36,360 per year.

Bradley also claimed a spot on our Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Bradley University

#7

Roosevelt University

Chicago, IL

Roosevelt University 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 #7 on the list. Roosevelt is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Roosevelt are $31,493 per year. Design majors at Roosevelt take out an average of $26,399 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree.

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#8

North Central College

Naperville, IL

North Central College 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 #8 on the list. Located in the city of Naperville, North Central is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at North Central are $42,206 a year.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at North Central College

#9

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, IL

Olivet Nazarene University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value bachelor’s degree design and applied arts programs. Olivet Nazarene is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small suburb of Bourbonnais.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Olivet Nazarene are $37,440 a year.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Olivet Nazarene University

#10

Dominican University

River Forest, IL

Dominican University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Dominican U is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of River Forest.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Dominican U are $35,420 a year.

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Best Value Design & Applied Arts Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Value Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

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

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.

  • 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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