2025 Best Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools

If you plan on getting your master's degree in design & applied arts, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #72 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 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 36 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for design & applied arts students pursuing a master's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 1,688 master's degrees in design & applied arts to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Design & Applied Arts School for Your Master's Degree

The design master's 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. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

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

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

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 master's 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 easy is it for design & applied arts to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized design & applied arts related body.

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

One Size Does Not Fit All

The design school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Design & Applied Arts in the United States

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for design & applied arts students seeking a a master's degree.

10 Top Schools for a Master's in Design

1

Maryland Institute College of Art
Baltimore, MD

176 Annual Graduates

$70,027 Median Starting Salary

Every student who is interested in a master's degree in design & applied arts needs to take a look at Maryland Institute College of Art. MICA is a small private not-for-profit college located in the large city of Baltimore.

Those design & applied arts students who get their master's degree from Maryland Institute College of Art earn $20,201 more than the typical design student.

More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from Maryland Institute College of Art

2

Pratt Institute - Main
Brooklyn, NY

140 Annual Graduates

$45,720 Median Starting Salary

Pratt Institute - Main is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in design & applied arts. Pratt Institute is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Brooklyn.

Students who graduate with their master's from the design program state that they receive average early career earnings of $45,720.

More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from Pratt Institute - Main

3

University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA

32 Annual Graduates

University of Southern California is a wonderful decision for individuals interested in a master's degree in design & applied arts. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from University of Southern California

4

The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX

29 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat The University of Texas at Austin if you wish to pursue a master's degree in design & applied arts. UT Austin is a fairly large public university located in the city of Austin.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from The University of Texas at Austin

5

The New School
New York, NY

103 Annual Graduates

$39,393 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of New York, New School University is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the design program state that they receive average early career income of $39,393.

More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from The New School

6

Northeastern University
Boston, MA

13 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Boston, Northeastern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from Northeastern University

7

Washington University in St Louis
Saint Louis, MO

14 Annual Graduates

WUSTL is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Saint Louis.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from Washington University in St Louis

8

Savannah College of Art and Design
Savannah, GA

151 Annual Graduates

$40,987 Median Starting Salary

Located in the midsize city of Savannah, SCAD is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the design program report average early career earnings of $40,987.

More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from Savannah College of Art and Design

9

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN

12 Annual Graduates

UMN Twin Cities is a very large public university located in the large city of Minneapolis.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

10

Boston University
Boston, MA

26 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Boston, Boston U is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from Boston University

Design & Applied Arts by Region

View the Best Design & Applied Arts 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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Rankings in Majors Related to Design

Design & Applied Arts is one of 10 different types of Visual & Performing Arts programs to choose from.

Design Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Visual Communications	423
Other Design & Applied Arts	374
Interior Design	249
Illustration	168
Graphic Design	162
Fashion Design	112
Industrial Design	108
Game & Interactive Media Design	48
Commercial & Advertising Art	38
Commercial Photography	6

Most Popular Majors Related to Design

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Music	6,247
Fine & Studio Arts	3,058
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	1,871
Drama & Theater Arts	1,756
Arts & Media Management	1,178
General Visual & Performing Arts	327
Other Visual Art	319
Dance	244

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.