2025 Best Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools in California

If you plan on getting your master's degree in design & applied arts, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #72 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 5 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 216 master's degrees in design & applied arts to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

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

Your choice of design & applied arts for getting your master's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on design & applied arts students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other design & applied arts students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How much debt design & applied arts students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized design & applied arts related body.

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 master's degree.

More Ways to Rank Design & Applied Arts Schools

The design school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools in California.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Design & Applied Arts in California

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for design & applied arts students seeking a a master's degree.

10 Top California Schools for a Master's in Design

1

University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA

29 Annual Graduates

University of Southern California is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in design & applied arts. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from University of Southern California

2

University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

9 Annual Graduates

University of California - Los Angeles is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in design & applied arts. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from University of California - Los Angeles

3

California College of the Arts
San Francisco, CA

26 Annual Graduates

California College of the Arts is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in design & applied arts. California College of the Arts is a small private not-for-profit college located in the large city of San Francisco.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from California College of the Arts

4

Art Center College of Design
Pasadena, CA

36 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a master's degree in design & applied arts needs to look into Art Center College of Design. Located in the midsize city of Pasadena, Art Center College of Design is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from Art Center College of Design

4

University of California - Berkeley
Berkeley, CA

University of California - Berkeley is a great choice for students pursuing a master's degree in design & applied arts. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from University of California - Berkeley

5

Academy of Art University
San Francisco, CA

78 Annual Graduates

$38,358 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of San Francisco, Academy of Art University is a private for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.

Master's students who receive their degree from the design program make around $38,358 in their early career salary.

More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from Academy of Art University

7

Laguna College of Art and Design
Laguna Beach, CA

5 Annual Graduates

Located in the rural area of Laguna Beach, LCAD is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from Laguna College of Art and Design

8

California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA

7 Annual Graduates

CSULB is a fairly large public university located in the city of Long Beach.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from California State University - Long Beach

9

San Francisco State University
San Francisco, CA

8 Annual Graduates

SFSU is a fairly large public university located in the large city of San Francisco.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from San Francisco State University

10

Otis College of Art and Design
Los Angeles, CA

9 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Los Angeles, Otis College of Art and Design is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from Otis College of Art and Design

Best Design & Applied Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Washington	183	6
Oregon	158	18
Nevada	105	0

View All Rankings >

Design & Applied Arts Related Rankings by Major

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

Design Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Visual Communications	46
Graphic Design	45
Illustration	43
Other Design & Applied Arts	24
Fashion Design	20
Game & Interactive Media Design	19
Commercial & Advertising Art	15
Interior Design	4

Most Popular Majors Related to Design

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	752
Music	479
Fine & Studio Arts	369
Drama & Theater Arts	299
General Visual & Performing Arts	77
Arts & Media Management	49
Dance	27
Other Visual Art	7

Notes and References

• 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). More about our data sources and methodologies.