2023 Best Value Visual & Performing Arts Schools in Virginia
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
Finding the Best Visual & Performing Arts School for You
In 2020-2021, 3,471 degrees and certificates were awarded to visual and performing arts students who went to a Virginia college or university. This makes it the #12 most popular major in the state.
It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.
Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Visual & Performing Arts Schools in Virginia to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 14 schools in Virginia to see which ones offered the best value programs for visual and performing arts students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.
Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.
In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.
Top 10 Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools
Our analysis found John Tyler Community College to be the best value school for visual and performing arts students who want to pursue a degree in Virginia. Located in the suburb of Chester, John Tyler Community College is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at John Tyler Community College are $4,800 per year. Visual & Performing Arts majors at John Tyler Community College take out an average of $5,418 in student loans while working on their egree.
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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Northern Virginia Community College is a great value for visual and performing arts students. Northern Virginia Community College is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Annandale.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Northern Virginia Community College are $5,565 a year. After completing their degree, visual and performing arts graduates from Northern Virginia Community College carry an average student debtload of $16,891.
Northern Virginia Community College excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools in Virginia list.
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Out of the 14 schools in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, Virginia Tech landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the small city of Blacksburg, Virginia Tech is a public school with a very large student population.
Virginia Tech undergraduate students pay an average of $14,174 in in-state tuition and fees each year. On average, visual and performing arts graduates from Virginia Tech take out $27,133 in student loans while working on their degree.
In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Virginia Tech is ranked #3 for overall quality for visual and performing arts in Virginia.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend James Madison University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Visual & Performing Arts Schools in Virginia list. JMU is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Harrisonburg.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at JMU are $12,638 per year. On average, visual and performing arts graduates from JMU take out $20,917 in student loans while working on their degree. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $440, based on a 10-year repayment plan.
JMU also claimed a spot on our Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools in Virginia list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.
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The excellent programs at Tidewater Community College helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best visual and performing arts schools in Virginia. Tidewater Community College is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Norfolk.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Tidewater Community College are $5,561 per year. Visual & Performing Arts majors at Tidewater Community College take out an average of $9,242 in student loans while working on their egree.
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Radford University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Visual & Performing Arts Schools in Virginia ranking. Radford is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of Radford.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Radford are $11,542 per year. Visual & Performing Arts majors at Radford take out an average of $25,625 in student loans while working on their egree.
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Old Dominion University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Visual & Performing Arts Schools in Virginia ranking. Located in the midsize city of Norfolk, Old Dominion is a public college with a very large student population.
Old Dominion undergraduate students pay an average of $10,800 in in-state tuition and fees each year. After completing their degree, visual and performing arts graduates from Old Dominion carry an average student debtload of $27,125.
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George Mason University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Visual & Performing Arts Schools in Virginia list. Located in the suburb of Fairfax, GMU is a public college with a fairly large student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at GMU are $13,119 per year. Visual & Performing Arts majors at GMU take out an average of $25,123 in student loans while working on their egree.
GMU also claimed a spot on our Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools in Virginia list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.
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University of Virginia - Main Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for visual and performing arts students. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the small suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public school with a fairly large student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at University of Virginia are $19,785 per year. On average, visual and performing arts graduates from University of Virginia take out $17,717 in student loans while working on their degree.
University of Virginia did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools in Virginia list.
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Regent University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Visual & Performing Arts Schools in Virginia list. Regent is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Virginia Beach.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Regent are $18,820 per year.
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Request InformationBest Value Visual & Performing Arts Colleges in the Southeast Region
Explore all the Best Value Visual & Performing Arts Schools in the Southeast Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| North Carolina | 3,215 |
| West Virginia | 405 |
| Mississippi | 696 |
| South Carolina | 1,360 |
| Florida | 7,291 |
| Arkansas | 830 |
| Alabama | 1,142 |
| Kentucky | 1,067 |
| Georgia | 4,322 |
| Tennessee | 2,629 |
| Louisiana | 1,147 |
More Visual & Performing Arts Rankings in Virginia
Majors Related to Visual & Performing Arts
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 14 schools only.
- 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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