2025 Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in Missouri
9Colleges in Missouri
511Design Degrees Awarded
$32,983Avg Early-Career Salary
Design & Applied Arts is of the hottest degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #36 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 9 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in Missouri ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 511 degrees in design & applied arts annually.
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Your choice of design & applied arts school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Design & Applied Arts School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
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 Schools in Missouri.
If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat.
Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
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 Missouri
Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the design degree levels they offer.
Washington University in St Louis is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in design & applied arts. WUSTL is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Saint Louis. A Best Colleges rank of #21 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means WUSTL is a great university overall.
There were about 74 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at WUSTL in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the design program earn around $33,615 for their early career.
Kansas City Art Institute is a great decision for students interested in a degree in design & applied arts. Kansas City Art Institute is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Kansas City.
There were approximately 41 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Kansas City Art Institute in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the design program state that they receive average early career wages of $29,513.
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 has to take a look at Maryville University of Saint Louis. Maryville U is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Saint Louis. A Best Colleges rank of #319 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Maryville U is a great university overall.
There were about 51 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Maryville U in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the design & applied arts major at Maryville University of Saint Louis earn $6,640 above the standard graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Lindenwood University is a wonderful decision for students pursuing a degree in design & applied arts. Located in the small city of Saint Charles, Lindenwood University is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. This university ranks 13th out of 48 schools for overall quality in the state of Missouri.
There were roughly 15 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Lindenwood University in the most recent data year.
Park University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Parkville. This university ranks 16th out of 48 schools for overall quality in the state of Missouri.
There were approximately 27 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Park University in the most recent data year. Design & Applied Arts degree recipients from Park University earn a boost of around $13,357 above the typical income of design & applied arts graduates.
Webster is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Saint Louis. A Best Colleges rank of #273 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Webster is a great university overall.
There were about 39 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Webster in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, design degree recipients usually make about $20,257 in their early careers.
Located in the town of Warrensburg, UCM is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 21st out of 48 schools for overall quality in the state of Missouri.
There were about 25 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at UCM in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the design program report average early career earnings of $33,921.
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.
Missouri State is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Springfield. A Best Colleges rank of #575 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Missouri State is a great university overall.
There were roughly 43 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Missouri State in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, design degree recipients typically earn around $33,695 in the first five years of their career.
Located in the suburb of Bridgeton, Saint Louis Community College is a public college with a large student population. This college ranks 22nd out of 48 schools for overall quality in the state of Missouri.
There were about 46 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Saint Louis Community College in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the design program make around $25,929 for their early career.
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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).