2021 Best Visual & Performing Arts Master's Degree Schools
Finding the Best Visual & Performing Arts Master's Degree School for You
In 2018-2019, 153,295 visual and performing arts students received their degrees and certificates, making the major the #10 most popular in the country.
Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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 Master's Degree Schools ranking. This report analyzed 198 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best master's degree programs 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.
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2021 Best Visual & Performing Arts Master’s Degree Schools in the United States
The colleges and universities below are the best for visual and performing arts majors pursuing a master's degree.
Top 25 Top Schools for a Master's in Visual & Performing Arts
Our 2021 rankings named Cornell University the best school in the United States for visual and performing arts students working on their master’s degree. Cornell is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Ithaca.
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Out of the 198 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Delaware landed the # 2 spot on the list. U of Delaware is a very large public school located in the suburb of Newark.
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The excellent master’s degree programs at University of North Carolina School of the Arts helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best visual and performing arts schools in the United States. UNCSA is a small public school located in the midsize city of Winston-Salem.
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The excellent master’s degree programs at Northeastern University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best visual and performing arts schools in the United States. Located in the city of Boston, Northeastern is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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The excellent master’s degree programs at American University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best visual and performing arts schools in the United States. The American University is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Washington.
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Sam Houston State University landed the #6 spot in the 2021 rankings for the best master’s degree visual and performing arts programs. SHSU is a very large public school located in the town of Huntsville.
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Southern Methodist University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for visual and performing arts students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. SMU is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Dallas.
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With a ranking of #8, Chapman University did quite well on this year’s best schools for visual and performing arts students working on their master’s degree. Located in the midsize city of Orange, Chapman is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
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With a ranking of #9, Carnegie Mellon University did quite well on this year’s best schools for visual and performing arts students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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Texas Tech University landed the #10 spot in the 2021 rankings for the best master’s degree visual and performing arts programs. Texas Tech is a very large public school located in the city of Lubbock.
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New York University landed the #11 spot in the 2021 rankings for the best master’s degree visual and performing arts programs. NYU is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.
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With a ranking of #12, Rice University did quite well on this year’s best schools for visual and performing arts students working on their master’s degree. Rice is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Houston.
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Purdue University - Main Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for visual and performing arts students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #13 on the list. Purdue is a fairly large public school located in the small city of West Lafayette.
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Tufts University ranked #14 on this year’s Best Visual & Performing Arts Master’s Degree Schools list. Located in the suburb of Medford, Tufts is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
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Syracuse University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for visual and performing arts students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #15 on the list. Syracuse is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Syracuse.
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With a ranking of #16, Colorado State University - Fort Collins did quite well on this year’s best schools for visual and performing arts students working on their master’s degree. Colorado State is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Fort Collins.
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University of Missouri - Columbia landed the #17 spot in the 2021 rankings for the best master’s degree visual and performing arts programs. Mizzou is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Columbia.
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University of Washington - Seattle Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for visual and performing arts students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #18 on the list. Located in the large city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public college with a very large student population.
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The University of Texas at Austin did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for visual and performing arts students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #19 on the list. UT Austin is a fairly large public school located in the city of Austin.
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University of California - Los Angeles landed the #20 spot in the 2021 rankings for the best master’s degree visual and performing arts programs. UCLA is a very large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.
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University of Wisconsin - Madison landed the #21 spot in the 2021 rankings for the best master’s degree visual and performing arts programs. Wisconsin is a very large public school located in the large city of Madison.
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University of Southern California came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Visual & Performing Arts Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.
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With a ranking of #23, Illinois State University did quite well on this year’s best schools for visual and performing arts students working on their master’s degree. Located in the suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public college with a fairly large student population.
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With a ranking of #24, Rutgers University - New Brunswick did quite well on this year’s best schools for visual and performing arts students working on their master’s degree. Located in the small city of New Brunswick, Rutgers New Brunswick is a public school with a fairly large student population.
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University of North Carolina at Greensboro landed the #25 spot in the 2021 rankings for the best master’s degree visual and performing arts programs. Located in the city of Greensboro, UNC Greensboro is a public school with a very large 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 Master's Degree Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | Brown University | Providence, RI |
| 31 | Northwestern University | Evanston, IL |
| 32 | Boston University | Boston, MA |
| 33 | Yale University | New Haven, CT |
| 34 | University of Connecticut | Storrs, CT |
| 35 | University of California - Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara, CA |
| 36 | Rochester Institute of Technology | Rochester, NY |
| 37 | University of Nevada - Las Vegas | Las Vegas, NV |
| 38 | University of California - Berkeley | Berkeley, CA |
| 39 | Texas Christian University | Fort Worth, TX |
Visual & Performing Arts by Region
View the Best Visual & Performing Arts Master's Degree 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 Related Rankings by Major
Visual & Performing Arts Majors to Study
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Fine & Studio Arts | 40,751 |
| Design & Applied Arts | 36,179 |
| Music | 26,968 |
| Drama & Theater Arts | 17,726 |
| Film, Video & Photographic Arts | 16,756 |
| General Visual & Performing Arts | 5,720 |
| Arts & Media Management | 4,766 |
| Dance | 3,234 |
| Other Visual Art | 1,071 |
| Crafts, Folk Art & Artisanry | 124 |
Most Popular Majors Related to Visual & Performing Arts
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities | 547,539 |
| English Language & Literature | 59,299 |
| Foreign Languages & Linguistics | 34,386 |
| Theology & Religious Vocations | 32,172 |
| Philosophy & Religious Studies | 16,252 |
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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