2025 Best Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region
Design & Applied Arts is of the hottest associate degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #19 most popular major in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.
College Factual reviewed 13 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for associate degree seekers in the field of design & applied arts. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 896 associate degrees in design & applied arts during the 2022-2023 academic year.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
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Featured Design & Applied Arts Programs
Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
AA in Digital Photography
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.
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BA in Digital Photography
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.
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Choosing a Great Design & Applied Arts School for Your Associate Degree
The design associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality design program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
Overall Quality Is a Must
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To take this into account we include a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a host of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Average Early-Career Salaries
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their associate degree from the school. After all, your associate degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
- Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to design & applied arts students as compared to other majors.
- Major Demand - The number of design & applied arts students who choose to seek a associate degree at the school.
- Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
- Student Debt - How much debt design & applied arts students go into to obtain their associate 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 schools for design & applied arts students working on their associate degree.
One Size Does Not Fit All
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 Associate Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list to help you make the college decision.
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Featured Design & Applied Arts Programs
Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
AA in Digital Photography
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 More
Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Design & Applied Arts in the Great Lakes Region
Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for design & applied arts students seeking a an associate degree.
10 Top Great Lakes Region Schools for an Associate in Design
Every student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in design & applied arts has to take a look at Madison Area Technical College. Madison College is a large public college located in the large city of Madison.
Design & Applied Arts associate degree recipients from Madison Area Technical College receive an earnings boost of around $2,632 over the typical income of design & applied arts majors.
More information about a associate in design & applied arts from Madison Area Technical College
It is difficult to beat Gateway Technical College if you wish to pursue an associate degree in design & applied arts. Gateway Technical College is a large public college located in the city of Kenosha.
Soon after graduating, design associate recipients generally earn about $29,734 in the first five years of their career.
More information about a associate in design & applied arts from Gateway Technical College
Any student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in design & applied arts has to take a look at Western Technical College. Western Technical College is a small public college located in the city of La Crosse.
Associate students who receive their degree from the design program earn an average of $23,032 in their early career salary.
More information about a associate in design & applied arts from Western Technical College
It's difficult to beat Ivy Tech Community College if you want to pursue an associate degree in design & applied arts. Ivy Tech Community College is a fairly large public college located in the city of Indianapolis.
After graduating, design associate recipients typically earn around $26,602 in their early careers.
More information about a associate in design & applied arts from Ivy Tech Community College
Located in the large suburb of Glen Ellyn, COD is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Associate recipients from the design & applied arts degree program at College of DuPage earn $3,385 above the standard graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
More information about a associate in design & applied arts from College of DuPage
