2025 Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in Tennessee
9Colleges in Tennessee
372Design Degrees Awarded
$32,983Avg Early-Career Salary
Ranked #36 in popularity, design & applied arts is one of the most sought-after degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 9 schools in Tennessee to determine which ones were the best for design & applied arts students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 372 degrees in design & applied arts annually.
Translate your creative ideas through concept, design and digital media with a bachelor's in graphic design online from Southern New Hampshire University.
Take the first step toward a career of visual expression and doing what you love with this online associate degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
Learn to create a striking portfolio and hone the skills you need to succeed in the world of professional photography with this online digital photography degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
The design program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Design & Applied Arts rankings. For our Best Overall Design & Applied Arts School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in Tennessee ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you.
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Translate your creative ideas through concept, design and digital media with a bachelor's in graphic design online from Southern New Hampshire University.
Take the first step toward a career of visual expression and doing what you love with this online associate degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
Learn to create a striking portfolio and hone the skills you need to succeed in the world of professional photography with this online digital photography degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
Best Schools for Design & Applied Arts in Tennessee
The schools below may not offer all types of design degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.
Every student pursuing a degree in design & applied arts has to take a look at Belmont University. Belmont is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Nashville. A Best Colleges rank of #237 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Belmont is a great university overall.
There were approximately 43 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Belmont in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the design program make an average of $28,702 in their early career salary.
Every student pursuing a degree in design & applied arts has to check out The University of Tennessee - Knoxville. Located in the medium-sized city of Knoxville, UT Knoxville is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #226 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UT Knoxville is a great university overall.
There were about 16 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at UT Knoxville in the most recent year we have data available. Those design & applied arts students who get their degree from The University of Tennessee - Knoxville receive $3,078 more than the standard design student.
Translate your creative ideas through concept, design and digital media with a bachelor's in graphic design online from Southern New Hampshire University.
Every student pursuing a degree in design & applied arts needs to check out The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga. Located in the city of Chattanooga, UT Chattanooga is a public university with a large student population. This university ranks 16th out of 41 colleges for overall quality in the state of Tennessee.
There were about 15 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at UT Chattanooga in the most recent year we have data available. Design & Applied Arts degree recipients from The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga receive an earnings boost of about $8,985 above the average income of design & applied arts majors.
It is hard to beat University of Memphis if you wish to pursue a degree in design & applied arts. UofM is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Memphis. A Best Colleges rank of #807 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UofM is a great university overall.
There were roughly 13 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at UofM in the most recent data year.
Middle Tennessee State University is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Murfreesboro. This university ranks 18th out of 41 schools for overall quality in the state of Tennessee.
There were approximately 16 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Middle Tennessee State University in the most recent data year. Those design & applied arts students who get their degree from Middle Tennessee State University receive $5,824 more than the average design grad.
Located in the city of Johnson City, ETSU is a public university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #802 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means ETSU is a great university overall.
There were roughly 26 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at ETSU in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the design program make around $34,177 in their early career salary.
Located in the city of Nashville, Nashville State Community College is a public college with a moderately-sized student population. This college ranks 27th out of 41 colleges for overall quality in the state of Tennessee.
There were about 18 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Nashville State Community College in the most recent year we have data available. After graduation, design degree recipients usually make around $27,412 at the beginning of their careers.
Take the first step toward a career of visual expression and doing what you love with this online associate degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
Chattanooga State Community College is a medium-sized public college located in the city of Chattanooga. This college ranks 14th out of 41 colleges for overall quality in the state of Tennessee.
There were approximately 29 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Chattanooga State Community College in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the design program earn around $20,165 in the first couple years of working.
Nossi College of Art is a small private for-profit college located in the city of Nashville.
There were roughly 39 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Nossi College of Art in the most recent year we have data available. After graduation, design degree recipients generally earn about $24,497 at the beginning of their careers.
Get on the right path to the fast-paced, exciting world of video game art and design with this online bachelor's from Southern New Hampshire University.
Gain a solid grounding in your online web design classes and exercise your creative muscle with this specialized online bachelor's from Southern New Hampshire University.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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).
The design program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Design & Applied Arts rankings. For our Best Overall Design & Applied Arts School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
