2023 Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools
Finding the Best General Visual & Performing Arts School for You
In 2020-2021, 6,355 people earned a degree or certificate in general visual and performing arts, making the major the #119 most popular in the United States.
It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 142 schools in the United States to see which programs offered the best educational experiences for students.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in the United States
The following schools top our list of the Best General Visual & Performing Arts Colleges.
Top 15% Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools
Our analysis found Gnomon to be the best school for general visual and performing arts students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Gnomon is a small private for-profit school located in the city of Hollywood.
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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Duke University is a great place for general visual and performing arts students. Duke is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Durham.
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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means College of the Holy Cross is a great place for general visual and performing arts students. Located in the medium-sized city of Worcester, Holy Cross is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend The University of Texas at Austin. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools list. UT Austin is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Austin.
After completing their degree, visual arts graduates from UT Austin carry an average student debtload of $20,500. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $216.
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The excellent programs at University of Florida helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best general visual and performing arts schools in the United States. UF is a very large public school located in the city of Gainesville.
Visual Arts majors at UF take out an average of $19,383 in student loans while working on their egree.
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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ranked #6 on this year’s Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools list. Located in the small city of Troy, RPI is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.
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Otis College of Art and Design did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for general visual and performing arts students. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the city of Los Angeles, Otis College of Art and Design is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
The average amount in student loans that visual arts majors at Otis College of Art and Design take out is $27,000. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $620.
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Carnegie Mellon University ranked #8 on this year’s Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools list. Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
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University of Iowa came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools ranking. Located in the city of Iowa City, Iowa is a public college with a very large student population.
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University of Pennsylvania ranked #10 on this year’s Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools list. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Philadelphia.
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Hamline University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for general visual and performing arts students. It came in at #11 on the list. Located in the large city of Saint Paul, Hamline is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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University of Missouri - Columbia ranked #12 on this year’s Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools list. Mizzou is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Columbia.
Visual Arts majors at Mizzou take out an average of $24,102 in student loans while working on their egree.
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With a ranking of #13, Rice University did quite well on this year’s best schools for general visual and performing arts students. Rice is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Houston.
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The University of Montana ranked #14 on this year’s Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools list. Located in the small city of Missoula, UM is a public school with a fairly large student population.
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With a ranking of #15, Texas Tech University did quite well on this year’s best schools for general visual and performing arts students. Texas Tech is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Lubbock.
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Syracuse University came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools ranking. Syracuse is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Syracuse.
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University of Wisconsin - Whitewater landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best general visual and performing arts programs. Located in the town of Whitewater, UW - Whitewater is a public school with a fairly large student population.
While working on their degree, visual arts majors at UW - Whitewater accumulate an average of around $27,000 in student debt.
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University of Central Florida came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools ranking. Located in the large suburb of Orlando, UCF is a public college with a very large student population.
On average, visual arts graduates from UCF take out $23,000 in student loans while working on their degree.
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With a ranking of #19, Grand Canyon University did quite well on this year’s best schools for general visual and performing arts students. Located in the large city of Phoenix, Grand Canyon University is a private for-profit college with a very large student population.
While working on their degree, visual arts majors at Grand Canyon University accumulate an average of around $26,847 in student debt. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $181.
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The University of Texas at Dallas did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for general visual and performing arts students. It came in at #20 on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Richardson, UT Dallas is a public school with a fairly large student population.
The average amount in student loans that visual arts majors at UT Dallas take out is $21,196.
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San Jose State University came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools ranking. San Jose State is a fairly large public school located in the city of San Jose.
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These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | University of San Francisco | San Francisco, CA |
| 23 | University of Wisconsin - Stout | Menomonie, WI |
| 24 | Boston University | Boston, MA |
| 25 | Austin Community College District | Austin, TX |
| 26 | Columbia University in the City of New York | New York, NY |
| 27 | Valencia College | Orlando, FL |
| 28 | Maryville University of Saint Louis | Saint Louis, MO |
General Visual & Performing Arts by Region
View the Best General Visual & Performing 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 General Visual & Performing Arts Rankings
Rankings in Majors Related to Visual Arts
One of 10 majors within the area of study, general visual and performing arts has other similar majors worth exploring.
Most Popular Related Majors
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Fine & Studio Arts | 37,413 |
| Design & Applied Arts | 36,301 |
| Music | 25,910 |
| Drama & Theater Arts | 17,341 |
| Film, Video & Photographic Arts | 16,778 |
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 Sven Mandel / CC-BY-SA-4.0.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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