2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts (Income $48-$75k) in District of Columbia

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

Design & Applied Arts is the 34th most popular major in the country with 36,854 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, design and applied arts graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $29,542 and had an average of $27,114 in loans still to pay off.

Across District of Columbia, there were 72 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $47,100 and $55,250 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 34 design and applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $44,446 and $25,767 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking analyzed 2 colleges that offered a degree in design and applied arts. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent design and applied arts programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the design and applied arts program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Design & Applied Arts Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia For Those Making $48-$75k” 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. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia For Those Making $48-$75k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia For Those Making $48-$75k.

Top 2 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts (Income $48-$75k) in District of Columbia

#1

George Washington University

Washington, District of Columbia

#1 in overall quality

$22,287 Average Net Price

$46,456 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, George Washington University landed the #1 spot on the list. George Washington University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Washington, District of Columbia. The school has a large population, and it awarded 23 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

GWU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in District of Columbia” list. The yearly cost to attend GWU is $22,287 for District of Columbia Bachelor’s Degree Design students whose families make $48-$75k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 88%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full GWU Design & Applied Arts Report

#2

American University

Washington, District of Columbia

#2 in overall quality

$33,158 Average Net Price

$42,682 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend American University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Design Schools for a Bachelor’s in District of Columbia For Those Making $48-$75k list. Washington, District of Columbia is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s design degrees to 11 students in 2019-2020.

The American University did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in District of Columbia” list. The yearly cost to attend American University is $33,158 for district of columbia bachelor’s degree design students whose families make $48-$75k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at American University

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts (Income $48-$75k) in the Middle Atlantic Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts (Income $48-$75k)

Notes and References

References

• 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 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).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

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