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Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region

2023 Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region

112 Colleges
$26,022 Avg Salary
$26,083 Avg Student Debt

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

With 149,215 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, visual and performing arts is the #10 most popular major in the United States.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 112 schools in the Middle Atlantic Region to see which bachelor's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Colleges.

Top 15% Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools

#1

Lafayette College

Easton, PA

Our 2023 rankings named Lafayette College the best school in the Middle Atlantic Region for visual and performing arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the large suburb of Easton, Lafayette is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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#2

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA

The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at Carnegie Mellon University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best visual and performing arts schools in the Middle Atlantic Region . Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Columbia University in the City of New York. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list. Located in the city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

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A rank of #4 on this year’s list means The College of New Jersey is a great place for visual and performing arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. TCNJ is a moderately-sized public school located in the large suburb of Ewing.

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#5

St Mary's College of Maryland

St. Mary's City, MD

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend St Mary’s College of Maryland. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list. SMCM is a small public school located in the suburb of St. Mary's City.

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#6

Skidmore College

Saratoga Springs, NY

Skidmore College 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 #6 on the list. Skidmore is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Saratoga Springs.

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#7

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

University of Pennsylvania 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. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Philadelphia.

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West Chester University of Pennsylvania 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. Located in the large suburb of West Chester, WCUPA is a public college with a large student population.

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University of Maryland - College Park ranked #9 on this year’s Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list. Located in the large suburb of College Park, UMCP is a public college with a very large student population.

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#10

Messiah University

Mechanicsburg, PA

Messiah 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 #10 on the list. Messiah is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Mechanicsburg.

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New Jersey Institute of Technology 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 #11 on the list. Located in the large city of Newark, NJIT is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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#12

New York University

New York, NY

With a ranking of #12, New York University did quite well on this year’s best schools for visual and performing arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. NYU is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.

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#13

Towson University

Towson, MD

Towson 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 #13 on the list. Located in the small city of Towson, Towson is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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#14

Goucher College

Baltimore, MD

Goucher College came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. Goucher is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Baltimore.

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#15

American University

Washington, DC

American University landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree visual and performing arts programs. The American University is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Washington.

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#16

Muhlenberg College

Allentown, PA

Muhlenberg College landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree visual and performing arts programs. Located in the city of Allentown, Muhlenberg is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

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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 in the Middle Atlantic Region award.

Rank College Location
17 Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY
18 University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA
19 Lebanon Valley College Annville, PA
20 Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania Slippery Rock, PA
21 The Juilliard School New York, NY
22 Ithaca College Ithaca, NY

Best Visual & Performing Arts Colleges by State

Explore the best visual and performing arts colleges for a specific state in the Middle Atlantic region.

State Degrees Awarded
New Jersey 2,574
Pennsylvania 5,464
New York 16,536
Maryland 2,055
Delaware 182
District of Columbia 586

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

Majors Similar to Visual & Performing Arts

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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