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

If you pursue a bachelor's degree in graphic design, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #84 most popular program in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

College Factual looked at 13 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Graphic Design Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 575 bachelor's degrees in graphic design during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools List

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

The graphic design bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we consider a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a collection of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

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 graphic design students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other graphic design students want to attend this school to pursue a bachelor's degree.
• 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.
• 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.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 Plains States Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.

In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.

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

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in graphic design.

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

1

Iowa State University
Ames, IA

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

68 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat Iowa State University if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in graphic design. Iowa State is a very large public university located in the city of Ames.More information about a bachelor’s in graphic design from Iowa State University

2

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN

49 Annual Graduates

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in graphic design. UMN Twin Cities is a fairly large public university located in the city of Minneapolis.More information about a bachelor’s in graphic design from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

3

Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Minneapolis, MN

11 Annual Graduates

Minneapolis College of Art and Design is one of the best schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in graphic design. Located in the city of Minneapolis, MCAD is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in graphic design from Minneapolis College of Art and Design

4

University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls, IA

25 Annual Graduates

University of Northern Iowa is a wonderful choice for students pursuing a bachelor's degree in graphic design. UNI is a medium-sized public university located in the small city of Cedar Falls.More information about a bachelor’s in graphic design from University of Northern Iowa

5

Kansas City Art Institute
Kansas City, MO

15 Annual Graduates

Kansas City Art Institute is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Kansas City.More information about a bachelor’s in graphic design from Kansas City Art Institute

6

Maryville University of Saint Louis
Saint Louis, MO

19 Annual Graduates

Maryville U is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Saint Louis.More information about a bachelor’s in graphic design from Maryville University of Saint Louis

7

University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Lincoln, NE

45 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Lincoln, UNL is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in graphic design from University of Nebraska - Lincoln

8

South Dakota State University
Brookings, SD

Basic Certificate Highest Degree Type

12 Annual Graduates

Located in the town of Brookings, South Dakota State is a public university with a large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in graphic design from South Dakota State University

9

Minnesota State University - Moorhead
Moorhead, MN

16 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized suburb of Moorhead, MSU Moorhead is a public university with a small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in graphic design from Minnesota State University - Moorhead

10

Park University
Parkville, MO

17 Annual Graduates

Park University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Parkville.More information about a bachelor’s in graphic design from Park University

Best Graphic Design Colleges by State

Explore the best graphic design colleges for a specific state in the Plains States Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Missouri	475	112
Minnesota	446	171
Iowa	403	144
Kansas	352	45
Nebraska	331	119
North Dakota	251	10
South Dakota	237	30

View All Rankings >

Graphic Design Related Rankings by Major

One of 9 majors within the Design & Applied Arts area of study, Graphic Design has other similar majors worth exploring.

Majors Similar to Graphic Design

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Interior Design	244
Visual Communications	225
Commercial & Advertising Art	125
Industrial Design	94
Illustration	76
Game & Interactive Media Design	47
Fashion Design	24

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.