2023 Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools
Finding the Best Fine & Studio Arts School for You
In 2020-2021, 37,413 people earned a degree or certificate in fine and studio arts, making the major the #32 most popular in the United States.
Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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.
The Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 592 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best programs for students.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools in the United States
Check out the Fine Arts programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.
Top 25 Top Schools in Fine & Studio Arts
Our analysis found Duke University to be the best school for fine and studio arts students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Durham.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Notre Dame. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools list. Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Notre Dame.
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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means The Graduate Center, CUNY is a great place for fine and studio arts students. The Graduate Center is a medium-sized public school located in the large city of New York.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Lafayette College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools list. Located in the suburb of Easton, Lafayette is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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The excellent programs at Gemological Institute of America-Carlsbad helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best fine and studio arts schools in the United States. Gemological Institute of America-Carlsbad is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Carlsbad.
After completing their degree, Fine Arts graduates from Gemological Institute of America-Carlsbad carry an average student debtload of $8,233.
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With a ranking of #6, Gemological Institute of America-New York did quite well on this year’s best schools for fine and studio arts students. Located in the large city of New York, Gemological Institute of America-New York is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.
On average, Fine Arts graduates from Gemological Institute of America-New York take out $8,233 in student loans while working on their degree.
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With a ranking of #7, Dartmouth College did quite well on this year’s best schools for fine and studio arts students. Dartmouth is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the town of Hanover.
On average, Fine Arts graduates from Dartmouth take out $14,319 in student loans while working on their degree.
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California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo ranked #8 on this year’s Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools list. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a fairly large public school located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo.
On average, Fine Arts graduates from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo take out $19,500 in student loans while working on their degree. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $302, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
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College of the Holy Cross ranked #9 on this year’s Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools list. Located in the midsize city of Worcester, Holy Cross is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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With a ranking of #10, Emory University did quite well on this year’s best schools for fine and studio arts students. Emory is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Atlanta.
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Sotheby’s Institute of Art - NY ranked #11 on this year’s Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools list. Sotheby's Institute of Art - NY is a small private for-profit school located in the large city of New York.
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Brandeis University ranked #12 on this year’s Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools list. Brandeis is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Waltham.
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With a ranking of #13, Virginia Tech did quite well on this year’s best schools for fine and studio arts students. Located in the city of Blacksburg, Virginia Tech is a public school with a fairly large student population.
On average, Fine Arts graduates from Virginia Tech take out $26,900 in student loans while working on their degree.
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Winona State University ranked #14 on this year’s Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools list. Winona State is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Winona.
The average amount in student loans that Fine Arts majors at Winona State take out is $27,500.
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Moravian College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for fine and studio arts students. It came in at #15 on the list. Moravian is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Bethlehem.
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University of Nebraska at Kearney ranked #16 on this year’s Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools list. Located in the town of Kearney, UNK is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
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James Madison University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for fine and studio arts students. It came in at #17 on the list. JMU is a very large public school located in the small city of Harrisonburg.
While working on their degree, Fine Arts majors at JMU accumulate an average of around $21,750 in student debt. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $541, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
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University of Michigan - Ann Arbor came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools ranking. U-M is a fairly large public school located in the city of Ann Arbor.
While working on their degree, Fine Arts majors at U-M accumulate an average of around $18,875 in student debt. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $354.
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University of Maryland - College Park came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools ranking. Located in the suburb of College Park, UMCP is a public school with a fairly large student population.
The average amount in student loans that Fine Arts majors at UMCP take out is $19,500.
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Sacred Heart University landed the #20 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best fine and studio arts programs. Sacred Heart is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Fairfield.
After completing their degree, Fine Arts graduates from Sacred Heart carry an average student debtload of $24,768.
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Southern Methodist University ranked #21 on this year’s Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools list. SMU is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Dallas.
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With a ranking of #22, North Dakota State University - Main Campus did quite well on this year’s best schools for fine and studio arts students. Located in the city of Fargo, North Dakota State University is a public college with a fairly large student population.
On average, Fine Arts graduates from North Dakota State University take out $25,000 in student loans while working on their degree.
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Northwestern University landed the #23 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best fine and studio arts programs. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Evanston.
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University of Georgia did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for fine and studio arts students. It came in at #24 on the list. Located in the city of Athens, UGA is a public college with a very large student population.
Fine Arts majors at UGA take out an average of $24,220 in student loans while working on their egree. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $241, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
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LaGuardia Community College came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools ranking. LaGuardia is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Long Island City.
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Additional Award Winners
This section represents the remainder of the schools awarded a Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 592 different United States fine and studio arts schools we analyzed.
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 Fine & Studio Arts Schools award.
Fine & Studio Arts by Region
View the Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
More Fine & Studio Arts Rankings
Rankings in Majors Related to Fine Arts
Fine & Studio Arts is one of 10 different types of programs to choose from.
Majors Similar to Fine Arts
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Design & Applied Arts | 36,301 |
| 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.
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- 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).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to Jorge Royan.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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