2023 Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in California
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
Finding the Best General Visual & Performing Arts 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.
The Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in California ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 15 schools in California to see which 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.
Top 10 Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools
Our analysis found San Diego Mesa College to be the best value school for general visual and performing arts students who want to pursue a degree in California. San Diego Mesa College is a fairly large public school located in the city of San Diego.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at San Diego Mesa College are $1,144 a year.
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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means San Jose State University is a great value for general visual and performing arts students. 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.
In addition to its great value ranking, San Jose State is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in California list.
Read full report on General Visual & Performing Arts at San Jose State University
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Channel Islands. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in California list. CSUCI is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of Camarillo.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at CSUCI are $6,817 per year.
Full General Visual & Performing Arts at California State University - Channel Islands Report
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - San Marcos. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts 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 is $15,000.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California State University - Los Angeles. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in California list. Located in the city of Los Angeles, Cal State LA is a public school with a fairly large student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Cal State LA are $6,785 per year.
Read full report on General Visual & Performing Arts at California State University - Los Angeles
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With a ranking of #6, Gnomon did quite well on this year’s best value schools for general visual and performing arts students. 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.
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University of California - San Diego came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in California ranking. Located in the large city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public school with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UCSD are $14,700 a year. Visual Arts majors at UCSD take out an average of $16,250 in student loans while working on their egree.
UCSD excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in California list.
Full General Visual & Performing Arts at University of California - San Diego Report
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With a ranking of #8, University of California - Riverside did quite well on this year’s best value schools for general visual and performing arts students. UCR is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Riverside.
UCR undergraduate students pay an average of $13,754 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
Full General Visual & Performing Arts at University of California - Riverside Report
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Academy of Art University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in California list. Located in the city of San Francisco, Academy of Art University is a private for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
Academy of Art University undergraduate students pay an average of $25,424 in in-state tuition and fees each year. The average amount in student loans that visual arts majors at Academy of Art University take out is $35,875.
Full General Visual & Performing Arts at Academy of Art University Report
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With a ranking of #10, Columbia College Hollywood did quite well on this year’s best value schools for general visual and performing arts students. Located in the large city of Tarzana, Columbia College Hollywood is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Columbia College Hollywood are $26,175 per year.
Request InformationBest Value General Visual & Performing Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Region
Explore all the Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Washington | 13 |
| Oregon | 66 |
| Nevada | 20 |
More General Visual & Performing Arts Rankings in California
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.
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 15 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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