2023 Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools
Finding the Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree 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.
The Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 570 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best bachelor's degree programs 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.
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2023 Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the United States
The colleges and universities below are the best for visual and performing arts majors pursuing a bachelor's degree.
Top 25 Top Schools for a Bachelor's in Visual & Performing Arts
Our analysis found University of Notre Dame to be the best school for visual and performing arts students who want to pursue a bachelor’s degree in the United States. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Notre Dame.
A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Duke University is a great place for visual and performing arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Durham.
Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at Duke University
A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Lafayette College is a great place for visual and performing arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the suburb of Easton, Lafayette is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Dartmouth College. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Dartmouth is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the town of Hanover.
The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best visual and performing arts schools in the United States. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a very large public school located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo.
Full Visual & Performing Arts at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo Report
College of the Holy Cross came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the midsize city of Worcester, Holy Cross is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at College of the Holy Cross
Emory University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for visual and performing arts students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Emory is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Atlanta.
Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at Emory University
Northwestern University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for visual and performing arts students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Evanston.
Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at Northwestern University
Brandeis University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for visual and performing arts students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. Brandeis is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Waltham.
Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at Brandeis University
Virginia Tech did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for visual and performing arts students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the city of Blacksburg, Virginia Tech is a public school with a very large student population.
Winona State University landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree visual and performing arts programs. Winona State is a moderately-sized public school located in the town of Winona.
Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at Winona State University
Carnegie Mellon University ranked #12 on this year’s Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
The University of Texas at Austin landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree visual and performing arts programs. UT Austin is a fairly large public school located in the city of Austin.
Columbia University in the City of New York did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for visual and performing arts students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #14 on the list. Located in the large city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
With a ranking of #15, Luther College did quite well on this year’s best schools for visual and performing arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Luther is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Decorah.
North Dakota State University - Main Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for visual and performing arts students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #16 on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Fargo, North Dakota State University is a public college with a large student population.
Sacred Heart University landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree visual and performing arts programs. Sacred Heart is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Fairfield.
University of Wisconsin - Madison ranked #18 on this year’s Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. UW - Madison is a very large public school located in the city of Madison.
James Madison University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for visual and performing arts students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #19 on the list. JMU is a very large public school located in the city of Harrisonburg.
University of California - Berkeley did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for visual and performing arts students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #20 on the list. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley.
Full Visual & Performing Arts at University of California - Berkeley Report
Williams College landed the #21 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree visual and performing arts programs. Located in the town of Williamstown, Williams is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Drake University ranked #22 on this year’s Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the medium-sized city of Des Moines, Drake is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
With a ranking of #23, The College of New Jersey did quite well on this year’s best schools for visual and performing arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. TCNJ is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of Ewing.
Full Visual & Performing Arts at The College of New Jersey Report
St Mary’s College of Maryland landed the #24 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree visual and performing arts programs. SMCM is a small public school located in the suburb of St. Mary's City.
Full Visual & Performing Arts at St Mary’s College of Maryland Report
Concordia College at Moorhead came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Concordia College Moorhead is a small private not-for-profit school located in the midsize suburb of Moorhead.
Full Visual & Performing Arts at Concordia College at Moorhead Report
Rest of the Top 50 Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools
Additional Award Winners
This section represents the rest of the colleges awarded a Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 570 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 Bachelor's Degree Schools award.
Visual & Performing Arts by Region
View the Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
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| 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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