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Best General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools

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2023 Best General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools

102 Colleges
$24,917 Avg Salary
$27,513 Avg Student Debt

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

#1

Gnomon

Hollywood, CA

Our analysis found Gnomon to be the best school for general visual and performing arts students who want to pursue a bachelor’s degree in the United States. Gnomon is a fairly small private for-profit school located in the large city of Hollywood.

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#2

Duke University

Durham, NC

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 Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Duke is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Durham.

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#3

College of the Holy Cross

Worcester, MA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend College of the Holy Cross. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the medium-sized city of Worcester, Holy Cross is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Full General Visual & Performing Arts at College of the Holy Cross Report

#4

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at University of Florida helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best general visual and performing arts schools in the United States. UF is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized 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.

Full General Visual & Performing Arts at University of Florida Report

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 large 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.

Full General Visual & Performing Arts at The University of Texas at Austin Report

#6

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA

Carnegie Mellon University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree general visual and performing arts programs. Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

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With a ranking of #7, Otis College of Art and Design 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 Los Angeles, Otis College of Art and Design is a private not-for-profit college 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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#8

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

University of Pennsylvania 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 #8 on the list. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Philadelphia.

Read full report on General Visual & Performing Arts at University of Pennsylvania

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 city of Troy, RPI is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

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#10

Hamline University

Saint Paul, MN

Hamline University ranked #10 on this year’s Best General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Saint Paul, Hamline is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Read full report on General Visual & Performing Arts at Hamline University

With a ranking of #11, University of Missouri - Columbia did quite well on this year’s best schools for general visual and performing arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Mizzou is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Columbia.

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#12

Rice University

Houston, TX

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 moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the 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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#13

Texas Tech University

Lubbock, TX

Texas Tech University 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 #13 on the list. Texas Tech is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Lubbock.

Full General Visual & Performing Arts at Texas Tech University Report

University of Wisconsin - Whitewater ranked #14 on this year’s Best General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. 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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#15

Grand Canyon University

Phoenix, AZ

Grand Canyon University landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree general visual and performing arts programs. Located in the city of Phoenix, Grand Canyon University is a private for-profit school with a very large student population.

Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $181.

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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 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

One of 10 majors within the area of study, general visual and performing arts has other similar majors worth exploring.

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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