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Most Popular Fine & Studio Arts Schools in California

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2023 Most Popular Fine & Studio Arts Schools in California

184 Colleges
$25,004 Avg Salary
$23,549 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Fine & Studio Arts School for You

Fine & Studio Arts is the #20 most popular major in California with 6,381 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Most Popular Fine & Studio Arts Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 184 schools in California to see which programs were the most popular for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Fine & Studio Arts program at each school on the list.

The colleges and universities below are the most popular for Fine Arts majors pursuing a .

Our 2023 rankings named California State University - Long Beach the most popular school in California for fine and studio arts students. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public school with a very large student population.

Fine Arts majors at CSULB take out an average of $16,422 in student loans while working on their egree.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Fullerton. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Popular Fine & Studio Arts Schools in California list. Located in the suburb of Fullerton, Cal State Fullerton is a public school with a very large student population.

On average, Fine Arts graduates from Cal State Fullerton take out $17,250 in student loans while working on their degree.

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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means California State University - Northridge is a great place for fine and studio arts students. CSUN is a very large public school located in the city of Northridge.

Fine Arts majors at CSUN take out an average of $15,054 in student loans while working on their egree.

Read full report on Fine & Studio Arts at California State University - Northridge

#4

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend San Diego State University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Most Popular Fine & Studio Arts Schools in California list. SDSU is a very large public school located in the large city of San Diego.

The average amount in student loans that Fine Arts majors at SDSU take out is $11,015.

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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means San Jose State University is a great place for fine and studio arts students. Located in the city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public college with a very large student population.

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California State University - Los Angeles landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular fine and studio arts programs. Cal State LA is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

The average amount in student loans that Fine Arts majors at Cal State LA take out is $15,500.

Read full report on Fine & Studio Arts at California State University - Los Angeles

University of California - Los Angeles landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular fine and studio arts programs. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average amount in student loans that Fine Arts majors at UCLA take out is $14,890. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $293, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.

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University of California - Santa Cruz landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular fine and studio arts programs. UC Santa Cruz is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Santa Cruz.

On average, Fine Arts graduates from UC Santa Cruz take out $19,563 in student loans while working on their degree. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $306.

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With a ranking of #9, University of California - Santa Barbara did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for fine and studio arts students. Located in the suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public college with a fairly large student population.

After completing their degree, Fine Arts graduates from UCSB carry an average student debt load of $18,332.

Read full report on Fine & Studio Arts at University of California - Santa Barbara

With a ranking of #10, California State University - East Bay did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for fine and studio arts students. Cal State East Bay is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Hayward.

On average, Fine Arts graduates from Cal State East Bay take out $18,111 in student loans while working on their degree.

Read full report on Fine & Studio Arts at California State University - East Bay

University of California - Irvine did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for fine and studio arts students. It came in at #11 on the list. Located in the city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public school with a fairly large student population.

On average, Fine Arts graduates from UC Irvine take out $17,600 in student loans while working on their degree.

Read full report on Fine & Studio Arts at University of California - Irvine

With a ranking of #12, Gemological Institute of America-Carlsbad did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for fine and studio arts students. Located in the city of Carlsbad, Gemological Institute of America-Carlsbad is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

After completing their degree, Fine Arts graduates from Gemological Institute of America-Carlsbad carry an average student debt load of $8,233.

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University of California - Berkeley did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for fine and studio arts students. It came in at #12 on the list. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a fairly large student population.

After completing their degree, Fine Arts graduates from UC Berkeley carry an average student debt load of $13,522.

Full Fine & Studio Arts at University of California - Berkeley Report

California State University - San Bernardino came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Fine & Studio Arts Schools in California ranking. CSUSB is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of San Bernardino.

Fine Arts majors at CSUSB take out an average of $23,543 in student loans while working on their egree.

Full Fine & Studio Arts at California State University - San Bernardino Report

#15

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA

San Francisco State University came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Fine & Studio Arts Schools in California ranking. SFSU is a very large public school located in the city of San Francisco.

After completing their degree, Fine Arts graduates from SFSU carry an average student debt load of $18,312.

Full Fine & Studio Arts at San Francisco State University Report

#16

Pasadena City College

Pasadena, CA

Pasadena City College ranked #16 on this year’s Most Popular Fine & Studio Arts Schools in California list. Pasadena City College is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Pasadena.

Full Fine & Studio Arts at Pasadena City College Report

#17

Fullerton College

Fullerton, CA

Fullerton College came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Fine & Studio Arts Schools in California ranking. Located in the large suburb of Fullerton, Fullerton College is a public school with a large student population.

Read full report on Fine & Studio Arts at Fullerton College

With a ranking of #18, University of California - Davis did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for fine and studio arts students. Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public college with a very large student population.

The average amount in student loans that Fine Arts majors at UC Davis take out is $12,600.

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#19

Academy of Art University

San Francisco, CA

Academy of Art University ranked #19 on this year’s Most Popular Fine & Studio Arts Schools in California list. Academy of Art University is a moderately-sized private for-profit school located in the large city of San Francisco.

After completing their degree, Fine Arts graduates from Academy of Art University carry an average student debt load of $40,685.

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University of Southern California ranked #20 on this year’s Most Popular Fine & Studio Arts Schools in California list. USC is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

On average, Fine Arts graduates from USC take out $21,695 in student loans while working on their degree. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $531.

Full Fine & Studio Arts at University of Southern California Report

Humboldt State University ranked #21 on this year’s Most Popular Fine & Studio Arts Schools in California list. Humboldt State University is a moderately-sized public school located in the town of Arcata.

On average, Fine Arts graduates from Humboldt State University take out $17,875 in student loans while working on their degree.

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#22

California College of the Arts

San Francisco, CA

With a ranking of #22, California College of the Arts did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for fine and studio arts students. California College of the Arts is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Francisco.

While working on their degree, Fine Arts majors at California College of the Arts accumulate an average of around $27,000 in student debt. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $215.

Full Fine & Studio Arts at California College of the Arts Report

California State University - Chico landed the #23 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular fine and studio arts programs. Located in the medium-sized city of Chico, Chico State is a public college with a large student population.

While working on their degree, Fine Arts majors at Chico State accumulate an average of around $17,959 in student debt.

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California State University - Channel Islands did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for fine and studio arts students. It came in at #23 on the list. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Camarillo, CSUCI is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

On average, Fine Arts graduates from CSUCI take out $15,125 in student loans while working on their degree.

Read full report on Fine & Studio Arts at California State University - Channel Islands

#25

El Camino College

Torrance, CA

With a ranking of #25, El Camino College did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for fine and studio arts students. Located in the large suburb of Torrance, El Camino College is a public school with a large student population.

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Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional popular schools for Fine & Studio Arts students in the state of California that almost earned our Most Popular Fine & Studio Arts Schools in California award.

Rank College Location
29 University of California - Riverside Riverside, CA
30 Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA
30 Santa Monica College Santa Monica, CA
30 Chaffey College Rancho Cucamonga, CA
33 Orange Coast College Costa Mesa, CA
34 University of California - San Diego La Jolla, CA
35 Modesto Junior College Modesto, CA
36 California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA

Best Fine & Studio Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Most Popular Fine & Studio Arts Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 402
Oregon 419
Nevada 141
Hawaii 116
Alaska 35

One of 10 majors within the area of study, fine and studio arts has other similar majors worth exploring.

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 26 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).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Jorge Royan.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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