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.
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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 large city of Hollywood.
Read full report on General Visual & Performing Arts at Gnomon
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Duke University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools list. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Durham.
The excellent programs at College of the Holy Cross helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best general visual and performing arts schools in the United States. Located in the medium-sized city of Worcester, Holy Cross is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Out of the 142 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, The University of Texas at Austin landed the # 4 spot on the 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.
Full General Visual & Performing Arts at The University of Texas at Austin Report
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Florida. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools list. UF is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Gainesville.
Visual Arts majors at UF take out an average of $19,383 in student loans while working on their egree.
Read full report on General Visual & Performing Arts at University of Florida
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best general visual and performing arts programs. Located in the city of Troy, RPI is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
Read full report on General Visual & Performing Arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Otis College of Art and Design landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best general visual and performing arts programs. Located in the large 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.
Carnegie Mellon University landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best general visual and performing arts programs. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
University of Iowa ranked #9 on this year’s Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools list. Located in the small city of Iowa City, Iowa is a public school with a very large student population.
Read full report on General Visual & Performing Arts at University of Iowa
University of Pennsylvania ranked #10 on this year’s Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools list. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Philadelphia.
Full General Visual & Performing Arts at University of Pennsylvania Report
Hamline University came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Saint Paul, Hamline is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
University of Missouri - Columbia did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for general visual and performing arts students. It came in at #12 on the list. Mizzou is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Columbia.
Visual Arts majors at Mizzou take out an average of $24,102 in student loans while working on their egree.
Full General Visual & Performing Arts at University of Missouri - Columbia Report
Rice University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools ranking. Rice is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Houston.
Full General Visual & Performing Arts at Rice University Report
The University of Montana landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best general visual and performing arts programs. Located in the small city of Missoula, UM is a public school with a fairly large student population.
Full General Visual & Performing Arts at The University of Montana Report
Texas Tech University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for general visual and performing arts students. It came in at #15 on the list. Texas Tech is a very large public school located in the city of Lubbock.
Full General Visual & Performing Arts at Texas Tech University Report
With a ranking of #16, Syracuse University did quite well on this year’s best schools for general visual and performing arts students. Syracuse is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Syracuse.
Full General Visual & Performing Arts at Syracuse University Report
University of Wisconsin - Whitewater ranked #17 on this year’s Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools list. 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.
Read full report on General Visual & Performing Arts at University of Wisconsin - Whitewater
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 suburb of Orlando, UCF is a public school 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.
Full General Visual & Performing Arts at University of Central Florida Report
Grand Canyon University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for general visual and performing arts students. It came in at #19 on the list. Located in the city of Phoenix, Grand Canyon University is a private for-profit college with a fairly 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.
Read full report on General Visual & Performing Arts at Grand Canyon University
With a ranking of #20, The University of Texas at Dallas did quite well on this year’s best schools for general visual and performing arts students. Located in the medium-sized city of Richardson, UT Dallas is a public school with a very large student population.
The average amount in student loans that visual arts majors at UT Dallas take out is $21,196.
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.
Read full report on General Visual & Performing Arts at San Jose State University
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 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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