2024 Best Illustration Master's Degree Schools

If you plan on getting your master's degree in illustration, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #400 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.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 7 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for illustration students pursuing a master's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 194 master's degrees in illustration to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Illustration School for Your Master's Degree

Your choice of illustration for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality illustration program can vary widely even among the top schools. 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.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to illustration students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of illustration students who choose to seek a master'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 illustration related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for illustration students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Illustration Master's Degree Schools ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Illustration in the United States

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in illustration.

Top Schools for a Master's in Illustration

1

Maryland Institute College of Art
Baltimore, MD

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

15 Annual Graduates

Maryland Institute College of Art is a great option for individuals pursuing a master's degree in illustration. Located in the city of Baltimore, MICA is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.More information about a master’s in illustration from Maryland Institute College of Art

2

Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

6 Annual Graduates

Syracuse University is a great option for students interested in a master's degree in illustration. Syracuse is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Syracuse.More information about a master’s in illustration from Syracuse University

3

Savannah College of Art and Design
Savannah, GA

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

86 Annual Graduates

Savannah College of Art and Design is a good decision for students interested in a master's degree in illustration. SCAD is a large private not-for-profit college located in the medium-sized city of Savannah.More information about a master’s in illustration from Savannah College of Art and Design

4

Academy of Art University
San Francisco, CA

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

44 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a master's degree in illustration needs to look into Academy of Art University. Located in the city of San Francisco, Academy of Art University is a private for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a master’s in illustration from Academy of Art University

5

Fashion Institute of Technology
New York, NY

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

9 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of New York, FIT SUNY is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a master’s in illustration from Fashion Institute of Technology

6

School of Visual Arts
New York, NY

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

34 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of New York, SVA is a private for-profit school with a small student population.More information about a master’s in illustration from School of Visual Arts

7

University of Hartford
West Hartford, CT

UHart is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of West Hartford.More information about a master’s in illustration from University of Hartford

Illustration by Region

View the Best Illustration Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

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Illustration Related Rankings by Major

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

Majors Similar to Illustration

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Visual Communications	481
Other Design & Applied Arts	343
Interior Design	244
Graphic Design	230
Industrial Design	180
Game & Interactive Media Design	121
Fashion Design	103
Commercial Photography	21
Commercial & Advertising Art	14

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.