2023 Best General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools
Finding the Best General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree 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 Bachelor's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 102 schools in the United States to see which bachelor's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. Factors related to overall quality of the school, post-graduation earnings, average student debt, and more accumulated were considered when coming up with this list.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the United States
The colleges and universities below are the best for visual arts majors pursuing a bachelor's degree.
Top 15% Best General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools
Our 2023 rankings named Gnomon the best school in the United States for general visual and performing arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Gnomon is a small private for-profit school located in the city of Hollywood.
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The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at Duke University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best general visual and performing arts schools in the United States. Duke is a large private not-for-profit school located in the 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 working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the city of Worcester, Holy Cross is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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Out of the 102 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Florida landed the # 4 spot on the 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 $19,468 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree.
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The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at The University of Texas at Austin 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. UT Austin is a very large public school located in the city of Austin.
Visual Arts majors at UT Austin take out an average of $21,516 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree. 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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With a ranking of #6, Carnegie Mellon University did quite well on this year’s best schools for general visual and performing arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
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Otis College of Art and Design ranked #7 on this year’s Best General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, Otis College of Art and Design is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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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University of Pennsylvania came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.
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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the small city of Troy, RPI is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
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Hamline University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Saint Paul, Hamline is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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University of Missouri - Columbia did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for general visual and performing arts students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #11 on the list. Mizzou is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Columbia.
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With a ranking of #12, Rice University did quite well on this year’s best schools for general visual and performing arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Rice is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Houston.
After completing their Bachelor's Degree, visual arts graduates from Rice carry an average student debtload of $10,493.
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Texas Tech University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Texas Tech is a fairly large public school located in the city of Lubbock.
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University of Wisconsin - Whitewater landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree general visual and performing arts programs. Located in the town of Whitewater, UW - Whitewater is a public school with a fairly large student population.
After completing their Bachelor's Degree, visual arts graduates from UW - Whitewater carry an average student debtload of $26,922.
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With a ranking of #15, Grand Canyon University did quite well on this year’s best schools for general visual and performing arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the large city of Phoenix, Grand Canyon University is a private for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $181.
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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 Bachelor's Degree Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | The University of Texas at Dallas | Richardson, TX |
| 17 | University of Central Florida | Orlando, FL |
| 18 | San Jose State University | San Jose, CA |
| 19 | University of San Francisco | San Francisco, CA |
| 20 | University of Wisconsin - Stout | Menomonie, WI |
General Visual & Performing Arts by Region
View the Best General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree 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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