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Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

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

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

12 Colleges
$30,862 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$24,917 Avg Salary

Finding the Best General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 1,179 degrees and certificates were awarded to general visual and performing arts students who went to a California college or university. This makes it the #84 most popular major in the state.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 12 schools in California to see which bachelor's degree programs offered the best value experiences for visual arts students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for visual arts majors pursuing a bachelor's degree.

Top 10 Best General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named San Jose State University the best value school in California for general visual and performing arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. San Jose State is a very large public school located in the large city of San Jose.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at San Jose State are $7,852 per year.

Read full report on General Visual & Performing Arts at San Jose State University

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means California State University - Channel Islands is a great value for general visual and performing arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. CSUCI is a medium-sized public school located in the suburb of Camarillo.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at CSUCI are $6,817 a year.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - San Marcos. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the large suburb of San Marcos, CSUSM is a public school with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at CSUSM are $7,727 a year. The average amount in student loans that visual arts majors at CSUSM take out while working on their Bachelor's Degree is $17,599.

Read full report on General Visual & Performing Arts at California State University - San Marcos

#4

Gnomon

Hollywood, CA

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Gnomon is a great value 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.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Gnomon are $28,155 per year.

Full General Visual & Performing Arts at Gnomon Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - San Diego. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public school with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UCSD are $14,700 per year. The average amount in student loans that visual arts majors at UCSD take out while working on their Bachelor's Degree is $17,029.

Read full report on General Visual & Performing Arts at University of California - San Diego

#6

Academy of Art University

San Francisco, CA

Academy of Art University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the large city of San Francisco, Academy of Art University is a private for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Academy of Art University are $25,424 a year.

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Columbia College Hollywood came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the large city of Tarzana, Columbia College Hollywood is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.

Columbia College Hollywood undergraduate students pay an average of $26,175 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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Otis College of Art and Design ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California 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.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Otis College of Art and Design are $50,950 per year. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $620.

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Azusa Pacific 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 #9 on the list. Azusa Pacific is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Azusa.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Azusa Pacific are $41,510 per year. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $290.

Read full report on General Visual & Performing Arts at Azusa Pacific University

#10

University of San Francisco

San Francisco, CA

With a ranking of #10, University of San Francisco did quite well on this year’s best value schools for general visual and performing arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the city of San Francisco, USFCA is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at USFCA are $53,472 a year.

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Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 13
Oregon 66
Nevada 20

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

Majors Similar to Visual Arts

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 12 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 Sven Mandel / CC-BY-SA-4.0.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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