2025 Best Graphic Design Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

Ranked #84 in popularity, graphic design is one of the most sought-after bachelor's 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 25 schools in the Southeast Region to determine which ones were the best for graphic design students pursuing a bachelor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 941 bachelor's degrees in graphic design during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Graphic Design School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Your choice of graphic design for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality graphic 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 make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

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 graphic design students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of graphic design students who choose to seek a bachelor's degree at the school.
• 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.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized graphic design related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for graphic design students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Graphic Design Schools

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

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. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Graphic Design in the Southeast Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in graphic design.

10 Top Southeast Region Schools for a Bachelor's in Graphic Design

1

University of Florida
Gainesville, FL

Basic Certificate Highest Degree Type

38 Annual Graduates

University of Florida is a wonderful decision for individuals pursuing a bachelor's degree in graphic design. Located in the midsize city of Gainesville, UF is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in graphic design from University of Florida

2

Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, VA

70 Annual Graduates

Virginia Commonwealth University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in graphic design. Located in the city of Richmond, VCU is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in graphic design from Virginia Commonwealth University

3

North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC

30 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat North Carolina State University if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in graphic design. NC State is a fairly large public university located in the city of Raleigh.More information about a bachelor’s in graphic design from North Carolina State University

4

Appalachian State University
Boone, NC

42 Annual Graduates

Every student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in graphic design has to check out Appalachian State University. Located in the distant town of Boone, Appalachian State is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in graphic design from Appalachian State University

5

Ringling College of Art and Design
Sarasota, FL

14 Annual Graduates

Ringling College is a small private not-for-profit college located in the city of Sarasota.More information about a bachelor’s in graphic design from Ringling College of Art and Design

6

Liberty University
Lynchburg, VA

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

103 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Lynchburg, Liberty University is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in graphic design from Liberty University

7

Samford University
Birmingham, AL

10 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Birmingham, Samford is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a bachelor’s in graphic design from Samford University

8

The University of Tennessee - Knoxville
Knoxville, TN

12 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Knoxville, UT Knoxville is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in graphic design from The University of Tennessee - Knoxville

9

Georgia Southern University
Statesboro, GA

34 Annual Graduates

Located in the town of Statesboro, GaSou is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in graphic design from Georgia Southern University

10

John Brown University
Siloam Springs, AR

12 Annual Graduates

JBU is a small private not-for-profit university located in the town of Siloam Springs.More information about a bachelor’s in graphic design from John Brown University

Best Graphic Design Colleges by State

Explore the best graphic design schools for a specific state in the Southeast Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Florida	492	178
Tennessee	460	79
North Carolina	453	179
Georgia	453	34
Virginia	421	177
South Carolina	370	99
Kentucky	331	7
Alabama	320	18
Louisiana	306	13
Arkansas	294	61
Mississippi	275	19
West Virginia	223	13

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Graphic Design

Graphic Design is one of 9 different types of Design & Applied Arts programs to choose from.

Most Popular Majors Related to Graphic Design

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Interior Design	867
Illustration	633
Visual Communications	530
Other Design & Applied Arts	386
Fashion Design	318
Industrial Design	226
Game & Interactive Media Design	118
Commercial Photography	38
Commercial & Advertising Art	33

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.