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Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region

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2023 Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

14 Colleges
$36,174 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. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 14 schools in the Far Western US Region to see which ones offered the best value master's degree programs for design students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

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 Far Western US Region

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

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

Our analysis found California State University - Long Beach to be the best value school for design and applied arts students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the Far Western US Region . CSULB is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Long Beach.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at CSULB are $17,784 a year.

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#2

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend San Francisco State University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region list. Located in the large city of San Francisco, SFSU is a public college with a very large student population.

SFSU graduate students pay an average of $18,242 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Design & Applied Arts at San Francisco State University Report

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of California - Los Angeles is a great value for design and applied arts students working on their master’s degree. UCLA is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at UCLA are $28,138 a year.

UCLA also made our Best Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region list, coming in at #5.

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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of Washington - Seattle Campus is a great value for design and applied arts students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public college with a fairly large student population.

UW Seattle graduate students pay an average of $30,912 in tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UW Seattle also is in the top 10% of our Best Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking.

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

Out of the 14 schools in the Far Western US Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Washington State University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Wazzu is a fairly large public school located in the distant town of Pullman.

Wazzu graduate students pay an average of $28,190 in tuition and fees each year.

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#6

Academy of Art University

San Francisco, CA

With a ranking of #6, Academy of Art University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for design and applied arts students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of San Francisco, Academy of Art University is a private for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Academy of Art University are $28,496 a year.

Full Design & Applied Arts at Academy of Art University Report

#7

University of Oregon

Eugene, OR

University of Oregon came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Design & Applied Arts Master’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking. Located in the midsize city of Eugene, UO is a public school with a very large student population.

UO graduate students pay an average of $30,567 in tuition and fees each year.

Full Design & Applied Arts at University of Oregon Report

Otis College of Art and Design did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for design and applied arts students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, Otis College of Art and Design is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Otis College of Art and Design are $50,950 a year.

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

#9

California College of the Arts

San Francisco, CA

California College of the Arts landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree design and applied arts programs. Located in the city of San Francisco, California College of the Arts is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at California College of the Arts are $55,090 per year.

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#10

Laguna College of Art and Design

Laguna Beach, CA

With a ranking of #10, Laguna College of Art and Design did quite well on this year’s best value schools for design and applied arts students working on their master’s degree. Located in the rural area of Laguna Beach, LCAD is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at LCAD are $38,850 per year.

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

Best Design & Applied Arts Colleges by State

Explore the best design and applied arts schools for a specific state in the Far Western US region.

State Degrees Awarded
California 3,773
Washington 532
Oregon 490
Nevada 110
Hawaii 19

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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