2021 Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools
Finding the Best Fine & Studio Arts School for You
In 2018-2019, 40,751 people earned a degree or certificate in fine and studio arts, making the major the #31 most popular in the United States.
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.
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 502 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best programs for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.
View our full ranking methodology.
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2021 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 Arts
Our 2021 rankings named Cornell University the best school in the United States for fine and studio arts students. Cornell is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Ithaca.
After completing their degree, Fine Arts graduates from Cornell carry an average student debtload of $13,681. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $142, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
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Out of the 502 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Notre Dame landed the # 2 spot on the list. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Notre Dame.
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Out of the 502 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Gemological Institute of America-Carlsbad landed the # 3 spot on the list. Gemological Institute of America-Carlsbad is a fairly 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. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $85, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
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A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of Virginia - Main Campus is a great place for fine and studio arts students. Located in the small suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public school with a very large student population.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Gemological Institute of America-New York. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools list. 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. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $85, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
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Duke University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools list. Duke is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Durham.
The average amount in student loans that Fine Arts majors at Duke take out is $90,295. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $1,052, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
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Brown University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for fine and studio arts students. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the midsize city of Providence, Brown is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
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California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo landed the #8 spot in the 2021 rankings for the best fine and studio arts programs. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a fairly large public school located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo.
Fine Arts majors at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo take out an average of $15,000 in student loans while working on their egree. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $156, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
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With a ranking of #9, Williams College did quite well on this year’s best schools for fine and studio arts students. Located in the town of Williamstown, Williams is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
The average amount in student loans that Fine Arts majors at Williams take out is $14,250. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $148.
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Sotheby’s Institute of Art - NY landed the #10 spot in the 2021 rankings for the best fine and studio arts programs. 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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With a ranking of #11, The College of New Jersey did quite well on this year’s best schools for fine and studio arts students. TCNJ is a medium-sized public school located in the suburb of Ewing.
Fine Arts majors at TCNJ take out an average of $23,000 in student loans while working on their egree. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $239, based on a 10-year repayment plan.
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University of Michigan - Ann Arbor ranked #12 on this year’s Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools list. Located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor, U of Michigan is a public college with a fairly large student population.
After completing their degree, Fine Arts graduates from U of Michigan carry an average student debtload of $17,269. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $179, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
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University of Delaware came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools ranking. U of Delaware is a very large public school located in the large suburb of Newark.
The average amount in student loans that Fine Arts majors at U of Delaware take out is $22,292. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $231.
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University of Wisconsin - Platteville ranked #14 on this year’s Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools list. UW - Platteville is a medium-sized public school located in the distant town of Platteville.
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Fairfield University ranked #15 on this year’s Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools list. Fairfield U is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Fairfield.
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Marist College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for fine and studio arts students. It came in at #16 on the list. Marist is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Poughkeepsie.
Fine Arts majors at Marist take out an average of $25,000 in student loans while working on their egree. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $259, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
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University of Southern California 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. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.
After completing their degree, Fine Arts graduates from USC carry an average student debtload of $19,500. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $202.
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University of Maryland - College Park landed the #18 spot in the 2021 rankings for the best fine and studio arts programs. Located in the large suburb of College Park, UMCP is a public college with a fairly large student population.
After completing their degree, Fine Arts graduates from UMCP carry an average student debtload of $21,000. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $218.
Full Fine & Studio Arts at University of Maryland - College Park Report
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Southern Methodist University ranked #19 on this year’s Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools list. SMU is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Dallas.
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Vassar College came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools ranking. Vassar is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Poughkeepsie.
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University of Nebraska at Kearney did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for fine and studio arts students. It came in at #21 on the list. Located in the town of Kearney, UNK is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.
After completing their degree, Fine Arts graduates from UNK carry an average student debtload of $21,250. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $221.
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James Madison University came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools ranking. JMU is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Harrisonburg.
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Carnegie Mellon University ranked #23 on this year’s Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools list. Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
On average, Fine Arts graduates from Carnegie Mellon take out $26,771 in student loans while working on their degree. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $278, based on a 10-year repayment plan.
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Concordia College at Moorhead came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools ranking. Concordia College Moorhead is a small private not-for-profit school located in the midsize suburb of Moorhead.
While working on their degree, Fine Arts majors at Concordia College Moorhead accumulate an average of around $25,000 in student debt. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $259, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
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Virginia Tech ranked #25 on this year’s Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools list. Located in the city of Blacksburg, Virginia Tech is a public school with a very large student population.
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Additional Award Winners
This section shows the rest of the colleges awarded a Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools badge. Showing in this list means the school was ranked in the top 15% of the 502 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 |
Rankings in Majors Related to Fine Arts
One of 9 majors within the area of study, fine and studio arts has other similar majors worth exploring.
Majors Similar to Fine Arts
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Design & Applied Arts | 36,179 |
| Music | 26,968 |
| Drama & Theater Arts | 17,726 |
| Film, Video & Photographic Arts | 16,756 |
| General Visual & Performing Arts | 5,720 |
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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