2023 Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools
Finding the Best Visual & Performing Arts School for You
In 2020-2021, 149,215 visual and performing arts students received their degrees and certificates, making the major the #10 most popular in the country.
It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. 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 Visual & Performing Arts Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 617 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best programs for students.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools in the United States
The colleges and universities below are the best for visual and performing arts majors pursuing a .
Top 25 Top Schools in Visual & Performing Arts
Our 2023 rankings named University of Notre Dame the best school in the United States for visual and performing arts students. Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Notre Dame.
After completing their degree, visual and performing arts graduates from Notre Dame carry an average student debtload of $19,625.
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The excellent programs at Duke University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best visual and performing arts schools in the United States. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Durham.
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The excellent programs at Lafayette College helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best visual and performing arts schools in the United States. Located in the suburb of Easton, Lafayette is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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Out of the 617 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, The Graduate Center, CUNY landed the # 4 spot on the list. The Graduate Center is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of New York.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Dartmouth College. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools list. Dartmouth is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the remote town of Hanover.
After completing their degree, visual and performing arts graduates from Dartmouth carry an average student debtload of $14,319.
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With a ranking of #6, College of the Holy Cross did quite well on this year’s best schools for visual and performing arts students. Located in the city of Worcester, Holy Cross is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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Emory University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools list. Emory is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Atlanta.
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With a ranking of #8, Virginia Tech did quite well on this year’s best schools for visual and performing arts students. Located in the small city of Blacksburg, Virginia Tech is a public school with a very large student population.
After completing their degree, visual and performing arts graduates from Virginia Tech carry an average student debtload of $27,133.
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With a ranking of #9, Brandeis University did quite well on this year’s best schools for visual and performing arts students. Brandeis is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Waltham.
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Winona State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for visual and performing arts students. It came in at #10 on the list. Winona State is a moderately-sized public school located in the distant town of Winona.
After completing their degree, visual and performing arts graduates from Winona State carry an average student debtload of $27,500.
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John Tyler Community College came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools ranking. Located in the suburb of Chester, John Tyler Community College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.
The average amount in student loans that visual and performing arts majors at John Tyler Community College take out is $5,418.
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Madison Area Technical College came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Madison, Madison College is a public college with a large student population.
After completing their degree, visual and performing arts graduates from Madison College carry an average student debtload of $14,374.
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Messiah University landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best visual and performing arts programs. Messiah is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Mechanicsburg.
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With a ranking of #14, Northwestern University did quite well on this year’s best schools for visual and performing arts students. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Evanston.
After completing their degree, visual and performing arts graduates from Northwestern carry an average student debtload of $17,079. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $431.
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University of Nebraska at Kearney ranked #15 on this year’s Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools list. Located in the town of Kearney, UNK is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.
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Sacred Heart University ranked #16 on this year’s Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools list. Sacred Heart is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Fairfield.
The average amount in student loans that visual and performing arts majors at Sacred Heart take out is $24,768.
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With a ranking of #17, Luther College did quite well on this year’s best schools for visual and performing arts students. Luther is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Decorah.
On average, visual and performing arts graduates from Luther take out $27,000 in student loans while working on their degree.
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North Dakota State University - Main Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for visual and performing arts students. It came in at #18 on the list. Located in the city of Fargo, North Dakota State University is a public school with a large student population.
On average, visual and performing arts graduates from North Dakota State University take out $24,833 in student loans while working on their degree.
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The University of Texas at Austin ranked #19 on this year’s Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools list. UT Austin is a very large public school located in the city of Austin.
On average, visual and performing arts graduates from UT Austin take out $22,725 in student loans while working on their degree. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $358.
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University of California - Berkeley ranked #20 on this year’s Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools list. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley.
After completing their degree, visual and performing arts graduates from UC Berkeley carry an average student debtload of $16,924.
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James Madison University came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools ranking. JMU is a very large public school located in the small city of Harrisonburg.
After completing their degree, visual and performing arts graduates from JMU carry an average student debtload of $20,917. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $440.
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Drake University came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools ranking. Located in the medium-sized city of Des Moines, Drake is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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Williams College landed the #23 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best visual and performing arts programs. Located in the town of Williamstown, Williams is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
After completing their degree, visual and performing arts graduates from Williams carry an average student debtload of $10,803.
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The College of New Jersey ranked #24 on this year’s Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools list. TCNJ is a medium-sized public school located in the large suburb of Ewing.
Visual & Performing Arts majors at TCNJ take out an average of $25,000 in student loans while working on their egree.
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St Mary’s College of Maryland landed the #25 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best visual and performing arts programs. SMCM is a small public school located in the suburb of St. Mary's City.
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Additional Award Winners
This section shows the remainder of the colleges awarded a Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 617 different United States visual and performing arts schools we analyzed.
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 Visual & Performing Arts Schools award.
Visual & Performing Arts by Region
View the Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
More Visual & Performing Arts Rankings
Visual & Performing Arts Related Rankings by Major
Visual & Performing Arts Majors to Study
| 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 |
| General Visual & Performing Arts | 6,355 |
| Arts & Media Management | 4,788 |
| Dance | 3,288 |
| Other Visual Art | 912 |
| Crafts, Folk Art & Artisanry | 119 |
| Community/Environmental/Socially-Engaged Art | 10 |
Most Popular Related Majors
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities | 556,813 |
| English Language & Literature | 54,635 |
| Foreign Languages & Linguistics | 33,333 |
| Theology & Religious Vocations | 27,459 |
| Philosophy & Religious Studies | 19,993 |
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 Bonnielou2013.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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