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Best Value Design & Applied Arts Schools in Washington

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2023 Best Value Design & Applied Arts Schools in Washington

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

13 Colleges
$17,799 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$33,169 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Design & Applied Arts School for You

With 532 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, design and applied arts is the #33 most popular major in Washington.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Design & Applied Arts Schools in Washington to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 13 schools in Washington to see which 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. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Design & Applied Arts Schools in Washington

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

Top 10 Best Design & Applied Arts Schools

$3,826 Average Tuition & Fees

Our 2023 rankings named Spokane Falls Community College the best value school in Washington for design and applied arts students. Located in the midsize city of Spokane, Spokane Falls Community College is a public college with a small student population.

Spokane Falls Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $3,826 in in-state tuition and fees each year. While working on their degree, design majors at Spokane Falls Community College accumulate an average of around $14,193 in student debt.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Spokane Falls Community College

#2

Bellevue College

Bellevue, WA
$4,057 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at Bellevue College helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best design and applied arts schools in Washington. Located in the midsize city of Bellevue, BC is a public college with a large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at BC are $4,057 per year.

BC also claimed a spot on our Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in Washington list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Bellevue College

$4,609 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at Lake Washington Institute of Technology helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best design and applied arts schools in Washington. Located in the large suburb of Kirkland, LWTech is a public college with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at LWTech are $4,609 per year.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Lake Washington Institute of Technology

$8,703 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Western Washington University is a great value for design and applied arts students. Located in the small city of Bellingham, WWU is a public school with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at WWU are $8,703 per year. While working on their degree, design majors at WWU accumulate an average of around $22,986 in student debt.

Full Design & Applied Arts at Western Washington University Report

$12,076 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 13 schools in Washington that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Washington - Seattle Campus landed the # 5 spot on the list. UW Seattle is a very large public school located in the city of Seattle.

UW Seattle undergraduate students pay an average of $12,076 in in-state tuition and fees each year. Design majors at UW Seattle take out an average of $13,702 in student loans while working on their egree.

UW Seattle also took the #2 spot in our Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in Washington rankings.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at University of Washington - Seattle Campus

$8,685 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #6, Central Washington University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for design and applied arts students. CWU is a large public school located in the town of Ellensburg.

CWU undergraduate students pay an average of $8,685 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Design & Applied Arts at Central Washington University Report

$12,417 Average Tuition & Fees

Washington State University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Design & Applied Arts Schools in Washington list. Located in the town of Pullman, Wazzu is a public college with a very large student population.

Wazzu undergraduate students pay an average of $12,417 in in-state tuition and fees each year. While working on their degree, design majors at Wazzu accumulate an average of around $24,191 in student debt.

Wazzu excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in Washington list.

Read More…

$7,922 Average Tuition & Fees

Eastern Washington University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Design & Applied Arts Schools in Washington list. EWU is a fairly large public school located in the town of Cheney.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at EWU are $7,922 per year.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Eastern Washington University

$35,646 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #9, Seattle Pacific University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for design and applied arts students. Located in the city of Seattle, SPU is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

SPU undergraduate students pay an average of $35,646 in in-state tuition and fees each year. Design majors at SPU take out an average of $25,000 in student loans while working on their egree.

In addition to its great value ranking, SPU is in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in Washington list.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Seattle Pacific University

$18,100 Average Tuition & Fees

Northwest College of Art & Design landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value design and applied arts programs. Located in the city of Poulsbo, NCAD is a private for-profit school with a fairly small student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at NCAD are $18,100 per year. While working on their degree, design majors at NCAD accumulate an average of around $30,750 in student debt.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Northwest College of Art & Design

Best Value Design & Applied Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
California 3,773
Oregon 490
Nevada 110
Hawaii 19

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

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 13 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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