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2025 Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Texas

20 Colleges in Texas
736 Bachelor's Degrees
$33,793 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you pursue a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #27 most popular program in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 20 schools in Texas to determine which ones were the best for design & applied arts students pursuing a bachelor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 736 bachelor's degrees in design & applied arts during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Design & Applied Arts School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Texas Your choice of design & applied arts for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality design program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we consider a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for design & applied arts students working on their bachelor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Design Rankings Other Ranking Categories

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Texas list to help you make the college decision.

In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Design & Applied Arts in Texas

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts.

10 Top Texas Schools for a Bachelor's in Design

1

The University of Texas at Austin is a good option for individuals interested in a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. UT Austin is a fairly large public university located in the city of Austin.

Those design & applied arts students who get their bachelor's degree from The University of Texas at Austin receive $10,713 more than the standard design grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from The University of Texas at Austin

2
39 Annual Graduates

Texas Christian University is a great option for students interested in a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. TCU is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Fort Worth.More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Texas Christian University

3
Texas State crest
Texas State University
San Marcos, TX
114 Annual Graduates
$44,396 Median Starting Salary
$23,635 Median Student Debt

Texas State University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. Texas State is a very large public university located in the small city of San Marcos.

Design & Applied Arts bachelor's degree recipients from Texas State University get an earnings boost of approximately $10,603 over the typical income of design & applied arts graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Texas State University

4
11 Annual Graduates

Southern Methodist University is a great choice for individuals interested in a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. SMU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Dallas.More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Southern Methodist University

5
121 Annual Graduates
$33,867 Median Starting Salary
$31,368 Median Student Debt

UNT is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Denton.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the design program report average early career income of $33,867.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from University of North Texas

6

Located in the city of Waco, Baylor is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Design & Applied Arts bachelor's degree recipients from Baylor University get an earnings boost of about $5,540 above the average earnings of design & applied arts graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Baylor University

7
43 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Lubbock, Texas Tech is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Texas Tech University

8

UH is a fairly large public university located in the city of Houston.

Design & Applied Arts bachelor's degree recipients from University of Houston get an earnings boost of around $13,668 over the average income of design & applied arts majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from University of Houston

9

Located in the large city of Austin, St. Edward's University is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Soon after graduating, design bachelor's recipients usually make an average of $30,589 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Saint Edward’s University

10

SHSU is a fairly large public university located in the distant town of Huntsville.

Those design & applied arts students who get their bachelor's degree from Sam Houston State University earn $6,166 more than the average design graduate.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Sam Houston State University

Best Design & Applied Arts Colleges in the Southwest Region

Explore all the Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Southwest Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Arizona 200 374
Oklahoma 190 165

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One of 10 majors within the Visual & Performing Arts area of study, Design & Applied Arts has other similar majors worth exploring.

Design Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Interior Design 219
Visual Communications 191
Graphic Design 190
Fashion Design 65
Industrial Design 25
Other Design & Applied Arts 22
Game & Interactive Media Design 18
Commercial & Advertising Art 5
Commercial Photography 1

Related Major Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts 1,410
Music 1,209
Drama & Theater Arts 772
General Visual & Performing Arts 522
Dance 199
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 144
Arts & Media Management 48

Notes and References

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