2025 Best Illustration Schools in the Plains States Region

Illustration is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #249 most popular degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

College Factual looked at 2 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Illustration Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 72 degrees in illustration to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

• Best Overall Illustration Schools List

Pick Your Illustration Degree Level

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 Illustration Schools in the Plains States Region list to help you make the college decision. More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.

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.

Read more about College Factual's methodology.

Best Schools for Illustration in the Plains States Region

Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the illustration degree levels they offer.

Top Plains States Region Schools in Illustration

1

Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Minneapolis, MN

Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type

37 Illustration Degrees Awarded

Minneapolis College of Art and Design is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in illustration. Located in the large city of Minneapolis, MCAD is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.More information about a degree in illustration from Minneapolis College of Art and Design

2

Kansas City Art Institute
Kansas City, MO

Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type

Any student pursuing a degree in illustration has to look into Kansas City Art Institute. Kansas City Art Institute is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Kansas City.More information about a degree in illustration from Kansas City Art Institute

Best Illustration Colleges by State

Explore the best illustration schools for a specific state in the Plains States Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Minnesota	742	50
Missouri	693	32

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Illustration

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

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Graphic Design	822
Interior Design	495
Visual Communications	396
Commercial & Advertising Art	327
Commercial Photography	106
Industrial Design	103
Game & Interactive Media Design	67
Other Design & Applied Arts	43
Fashion Design	20

View All Illustration Related Majors >

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.