2025 Best Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

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.

College Factual reviewed 5 schools in the Southwest Region to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of design & applied arts. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 105 master's degrees in design & applied arts during the 2021-2022 academic year.

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 full 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

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Design & Applied Arts in the Southwest Region

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

Top Southwest Region Schools for a Master's in Design

1

The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX

31 Annual Graduates

The University of Texas at Austin 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 Austin, UT Austin is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from The University of Texas at Austin

2

Arizona State University - Tempe
Tempe, AZ

17 Annual Graduates

$47,217 Median Starting Salary

Arizona State University - Tempe is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in design & applied arts. ASU - Tempe is a very large public university located in the city of Tempe.

Master's students who receive their degree from the design program earn an average of $47,217 in their early career salary.

More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from Arizona State University - Tempe

3

University of Oklahoma Norman Campus
Norman, OK

Every student who is interested in a master's degree in design & applied arts needs to check out University of Oklahoma Norman Campus. Located in the midsize suburb of Norman, University of Oklahoma is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from University of Oklahoma Norman Campus

4

University of North Texas
Denton, TX

19 Annual Graduates

University of North Texas is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in design & applied arts. Located in the city of Denton, UNT is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from University of North Texas

5

Arizona State University - Skysong
Scottsdale, AZ

28 Annual Graduates

$47,217 Median Starting Salary

Located in the medium-sized city of Scottsdale, ASU - Skysong is a public university with a very large student population.

Master's students who receive their degree from the design program earn an average of $47,217 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from Arizona State University - Skysong

Best Design & Applied Arts Colleges by State

Explore the best design & applied arts schools for a specific state in the Southwest Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Texas	235	51
Arizona	180	32
Oklahoma	153	4

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	60
Other Design & Applied Arts	35
Interior Design	7
Industrial Design	2
Graphic Design	1

Most Popular Majors Related to Design

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Music	616
Fine & Studio Arts	208
Drama & Theater Arts	111
Dance	37
Arts & Media Management	31
General Visual & Performing Arts	17
Other Visual Art	9
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	4

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.