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Best Visual & Performing Arts Graduate Certificate Schools

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2023 Best Visual & Performing Arts Graduate Certificate Schools

106 Colleges
$42,822 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Visual & Performing Arts Graduate Certificate 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.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Visual & Performing Arts Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 106 schools in the United States to see which graduate certificate programs offered the best educational experiences 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.

2023 Best Visual & Performing Arts Graduate Certificate Schools in the United States

The following schools top our list of the Best Visual & Performing Arts Graduate Certificate Colleges.

Top 15% Best Visual & Performing Arts Graduate Certificate Schools

Our 2023 rankings named The Graduate Center, CUNY the best school in the United States for visual and performing arts students working on their graduate certificate. The Graduate Center is a moderately-sized public school located in the large city of New York.

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#2

Messiah University

Mechanicsburg, PA

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Messiah University is a great place for visual and performing arts students working on their graduate certificate. Messiah is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Mechanicsburg.

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#3

Michigan State University

East Lansing, MI

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Michigan State University is a great place for visual and performing arts students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the small city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend American Film Institute Conservatory. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Visual & Performing Arts Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, American Film Institute is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at American Film Institute Conservatory

#5

University of Iowa

Iowa City, IA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Iowa. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Visual & Performing Arts Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the small city of Iowa City, Iowa is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Full Visual & Performing Arts at University of Iowa Report

With a ranking of #6, The University of Texas at Austin did quite well on this year’s best schools for visual and performing arts students working on their graduate certificate. UT Austin is a fairly large public school located in the city of Austin.

Full Visual & Performing Arts at The University of Texas at Austin Report

#7

Towson University

Towson, MD

Towson University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Visual & Performing Arts Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the city of Towson, Towson is a public college with a very large student population.

Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at Towson University

University of Wisconsin - Madison ranked #8 on this year’s Best Visual & Performing Arts Graduate Certificate Schools list. UW - Madison is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Madison.

Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at University of Wisconsin - Madison

Columbia University in the City of New York ranked #9 on this year’s Best Visual & Performing Arts Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the large city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

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#10

American University

Washington, DC

With a ranking of #10, American University did quite well on this year’s best schools for visual and performing arts students working on their graduate certificate. The American University is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Washington.

Full Visual & Performing Arts at American University Report

Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania ranked #11 on this year’s Best Visual & Performing Arts Graduate Certificate Schools list. Located in the small city of Bloomsburg, Bloomsburg is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

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#12

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

University of Pennsylvania came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Visual & Performing Arts Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Philadelphia.

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#13

Texas Christian University

Fort Worth, TX

Texas Christian University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Visual & Performing Arts Graduate Certificate Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Fort Worth, TCU is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Visual & Performing Arts at Texas Christian University

#14

University of Tulsa

Tulsa, OK

With a ranking of #14, University of Tulsa did quite well on this year’s best schools for visual and performing arts students working on their graduate certificate. University of Tulsa is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Tulsa.

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#15

Texas Tech University

Lubbock, TX

Texas Tech University ranked #15 on this year’s Best Visual & Performing Arts Graduate Certificate Schools list. Texas Tech is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Lubbock.

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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 Graduate Certificate Schools award.

Rank College Location
16 West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA
17 Iowa State University Ames, IA
18 University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA
19 University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI
20 University of Connecticut Storrs, CT
21 The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX

Visual & Performing Arts by Region

View the Best Visual & Performing Arts Graduate Certificate Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

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

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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