Find Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

98 Colleges
$17,567 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$52,263 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Design & Applied Arts Master's 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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 98 schools in the United States to see which master's 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 Master’s Degree Schools in the United States

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

Top 15% Best Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools

#1

Lindenwood University

Saint Charles, MO

Our analysis found Lindenwood University to be the best value school for design and applied arts students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the United States. Lindenwood University is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Saint Charles.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Lindenwood University are $9,784 per year.

Full Design & Applied Arts at Lindenwood University Report

#2

Ferris State University

Big Rapids, MI

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Ferris State University is a great value for design and applied arts students working on their master’s degree. Located in the distant town of Big Rapids, Ferris is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Ferris are $8,232 per year.

Full Design & Applied Arts at Ferris State University Report

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Atlantic University College is a great value for design and applied arts students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Guaynabo, Atlantic University College is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Atlantic University College are $4,605 per year.

Read More…

#4

Liberty University

Lynchburg, VA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Liberty University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the small city of Lynchburg, Liberty University is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Liberty University graduate students pay an average of $8,360 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Design & Applied Arts at Liberty University Report

#5

Endicott College

Beverly, MA

The excellent master’s degree programs at Endicott College helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value design and applied arts schools in the United States. Endicott is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Beverly.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Endicott are $12,746 per year.

Full Design & Applied Arts at Endicott College Report

#6

Marywood University

Scranton, PA

Marywood University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree design and applied arts programs. Marywood is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Scranton.

Marywood graduate students pay an average of $11,438 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Marywood University

University of Wisconsin - Stout came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the town of Menomonie, UW - Stout is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

UW - Stout graduate students pay an average of $17,213 in tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UW - Stout also is in the top 20% of our Best Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools ranking.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at University of Wisconsin - Stout

University of Delaware landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree design and applied arts programs. UD is a very large public school located in the suburb of Newark.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UD are $18,128 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, UD also did well on our Best Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at University of Delaware

#9

Mississippi College

Clinton, MS

Mississippi College ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools list. MC is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Clinton.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at MC are $12,796 per year.

Read More…

Arizona State University - Skysong landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree design and applied arts programs. ASU - Skysong is a fairly large public school located in the city of Scottsdale.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at ASU - Skysong are $9,982 a year.

Full Design & Applied Arts at Arizona State University - Skysong Report

The University of Texas at Austin landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree design and applied arts programs. UT Austin is a very large public school located in the large city of Austin.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UT Austin are $22,944 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UT Austin also is in the top 5% of our Best Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools ranking.

Read More…

The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools ranking. UT Chattanooga is a large public school located in the city of Chattanooga.

UT Chattanooga graduate students pay an average of $18,538 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga

With a ranking of #13, Illinois Institute of Technology did quite well on this year’s best value schools for design and applied arts students working on their master’s degree. Illinois Tech is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

Illinois Tech graduate students pay an average of $30,822 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

#14

Clemson University

Clemson, SC

Clemson University ranked #14 on this year’s Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools list. Clemson is a very large public school located in the large suburb of Clemson.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Clemson are $23,246 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Clemson also is in the top 20% of our Best Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools ranking.

Full Design & Applied Arts at Clemson University Report

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
15 Kutztown University of Pennsylvania Kutztown, PA
16 Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus Atlanta, GA
17 Oklahoma State University - Main Campus Stillwater, OK
18 Brenau University Gainesville, GA
18 University of North Texas Denton, TX

Design & Applied Arts by Region

View the Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree 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 25 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.

Featured Schools

Find Schools Near You

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