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Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in the Southwest Region

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2023 Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in the Southwest Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

15 Colleges
$21,362 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$25,687 Avg Salary

Finding the Best General Visual & Performing Arts School for You

Out of all the majors we analyze each year, general visual and performing arts was ranked #119 in the country. In fact 6,355 degrees and certificates were handed out in 2020-2021.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in the Southwest Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 15 schools in the Southwest Region to see which ones offered the best value programs for visual arts students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

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 Schools in the Southwest Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts Colleges.

Top 10 Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools

Our analysis found Austin Community College District to be the best value school for general visual and performing arts students who want to pursue a degree in the Southwest Region . Located in the large city of Austin, Austin Community College District is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Austin Community College District are $10,590 per year.

Austin Community College District also claimed a spot on our Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in the Southwest Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.

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$11,384 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best general visual and performing arts schools in the Southwest Region . OSU Institute of Technology is a small public school located in the town of Okmulgee.

OSU Institute of Technology undergraduate students pay an average of $11,384 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on General Visual & Performing Arts at Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology

#3

Grand Canyon University

Phoenix, AZ

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Grand Canyon University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the large city of Phoenix, Grand Canyon University is a private for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Grand Canyon University are $17,189 a year. After completing their degree, visual arts graduates from Grand Canyon University carry an average student debtload of $26,847. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $181.

Read full report on General Visual & Performing Arts at Grand Canyon University

#4

Texas Tech University

Lubbock, TX

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Texas Tech University is a great value for general visual and performing arts students. Texas Tech is a very large public school located in the city of Lubbock.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Texas Tech are $24,121 a year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Texas Tech also is in the top 10% of our Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in the Southwest Region ranking.

Read full report on General Visual & Performing Arts at Texas Tech University

$7,566 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Pima Community College. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in the Southwest Region list. Pima County Community College District is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Tucson.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Pima County Community College District are $7,566 a year. While working on their degree, visual arts majors at Pima County Community College District accumulate an average of around $9,770 in student debt.

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$17,461 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #6, University of Advancing Technology did quite well on this year’s best value schools for general visual and performing arts students. University of Advancing Technology is a fairly small private for-profit school located in the city of Tempe.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at University of Advancing Technology are $17,461 a year. The average amount in student loans that visual arts majors at University of Advancing Technology take out is $27,000.

Full General Visual & Performing Arts at University of Advancing Technology Report

The University of Texas at Austin landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value general visual and performing arts programs. UT Austin is a fairly large public school located in the city of Austin.

UT Austin undergraduate students pay an average of $40,996 in tuition and fees each year. The average amount in student loans that visual arts majors at UT Austin take out is $20,500. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $216, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.

UT Austin did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our Best General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in the Southwest Region list.

Read full report on General Visual & Performing Arts at The University of Texas at Austin

#8

Rogers State University

Claremore, OK
$15,960 Average Tuition & Fees

Rogers State University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value General Visual & Performing Arts Schools in the Southwest Region list. RSU is a small public school located in the fringe town of Claremore.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at RSU are $15,960 per year.

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Lubbock Christian University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value general visual and performing arts programs. LCU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Lubbock.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at LCU are $24,900 a year.

Full General Visual & Performing Arts at Lubbock Christian University Report

$17,196 Average Tuition & Fees

University of Houston - Downtown did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for general visual and performing arts students. It came in at #10 on the list. UH Downtown is a fairly large public school located in the city of Houston.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UH Downtown are $17,196 per year. Visual Arts majors at UH Downtown take out an average of $22,500 in student loans while working on their egree.

Read full report on General Visual & Performing Arts at University of Houston - Downtown

Best General Visual & Performing Arts Colleges by State

Explore the best general visual and performing arts colleges for a specific state in the Southwest region.

State Degrees Awarded
Texas 593
Arizona 138
Oklahoma 29
New Mexico 67

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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