2023 Most Focused Associate Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts in Tennessee

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Schools for an Associate Highly Focused on Design Major in Tennessee” ranking - to help you make that decision.

In 2021-2022, 36,323 people earned their degree in design & applied arts, making the major the 36th most popular in the United States. In , design & applied arts graduates who were awarded their degree in , earned an average of $32,210 and had an average of $24,297 in loans still to pay off.

Across Tennessee, there were 372 design & applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $30,178 and $23,641 respectively. At the associate degree level specifically, there were 89 design & applied arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $34,508 and $17,391 respectively.

This year’s “Schools for an Associate Highly Focused on Design Major in Tennessee” ranking analyzed 6 colleges that offered a degree in design & applied arts. That schools that top this list have a program in design & applied arts in which the largest percentage of students at the school are enrolled.

See our ranking methodology to learn more.

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 “Schools for an Associate Highly Focused on Design Major in Tennessee”.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Schools for an Associate Highly Focused on Design Major in Tennessee

The following schools top our list of the Best “Schools for an Associate Highly Focused on Design Major in Tennessee”.

Top 6 Most Focused Associate Degree Colleges for Design & Applied Arts in Tennessee

1

Nossi College of Art
Nashville, Tennessee

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Nossi College of Art. The school came in at #1 for the Schools for an Associate Highly Focused on Design Major in Tennessee. This small school is located in Nashville, Tennessee, and it awarded 39 associates’s design degrees in 2021-2022.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at Nossi College of Art

2

Chattanooga State Community College
Chattanooga, Tennessee

$23,624 Average Early-Career Earnings

$9,288 Average Student Debt

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Chattanooga State Community College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Schools for an Associate Highly Focused on Design Major in Tennessee list. Located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, this medium-sized public school awarded 29 degrees to qualified associates’s design students in 2021-2022.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.8% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Full Chattanooga State Community College Design & Applied Arts Report

3

Pellissippi State Community College
Knoxville, Tennessee

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Pellissippi State Community College. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Schools for an Associate Highly Focused on Design Major in Tennessee list. This medium-sized school is located in Knoxville, Tennessee, and it awarded 26 associates’s design degrees in 2021-2022.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at Pellissippi State Community College

4

Nashville State Community College
Nashville, Tennessee

$25,394 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Nashville State Community College. The school came in at #4 for the Schools for an Associate Highly Focused on Design Major in Tennessee. Nashville State Community College is a medium-sized school located in Nashville, Tennessee that handed out 18 associates’s design degrees in 2021-2022.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Design & Applied Arts at Nashville State Community College

5

Southwest Tennessee Community College
Memphis, Tennessee

Out of the 6 schools in the Schools for an Associate Highly Focused on Design Major in Tennessee that were part of this year’s ranking, Southwest Tennessee Community College landed the #5 spot on the list. Southwest is a medium-sized school located in Memphis, Tennessee that handed out 14 associates’s design degrees in 2021-2022.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at Southwest Tennessee Community College

6

Southern Adventist University
Collegedale, Tennessee

#7 overall quality in Tennessee

With a ranking of #6, Southern Adventist University did quite well on the 2023 Schools for an Associate Highly Focused on Design Major in Tennessee list. Southern Adventist is a private not-for-profit institution located in Collegedale, Tennessee. The school has a small population, and it awarded 6 associates’s degrees in 2021-2022.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Design & Applied Arts at Southern Adventist

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

• *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate 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.