2024 Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

Ranked #27 in popularity, design & applied arts is one of the most sought-after bachelor's degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 27 schools in the Plains States Region to determine which ones were the best for design & applied arts students pursuing a bachelor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,402 bachelor's degrees in design & applied arts during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools List

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

The design bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

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 ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their bachelor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your bachelor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

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

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on design & applied arts students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of design & applied arts students who choose to seek a bachelor'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.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for design & applied arts to pay back their student loans after receiving their bachelor's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized design & applied arts related body.

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

More Ways to Rank Design & Applied Arts Schools

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 Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region.

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.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Design & Applied Arts in the Plains States Region

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for design & applied arts students seeking a a bachelor's degree.

10 Top Plains States Region Schools for a Bachelor's in Design

1

Washington University in St Louis
Saint Louis, MO

64 Annual Graduates

$41,577 Median Starting Salary

$19,089 Median Student Debt

Every student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts needs to take a look at Washington University in St Louis. Located in the large suburb of Saint Louis, WUSTL is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Design & Applied Arts bachelor's degree recipients from Washington University in St Louis earn a boost of around $8,032 above the typical earnings of design & applied arts graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Washington University in St Louis

2

Iowa State University
Ames, IA

239 Annual Graduates

$37,065 Median Starting Salary

$27,000 Median Student Debt

It's difficult to beat Iowa State University if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. Located in the small city of Ames, Iowa State is a public university with a very large student population.

Design & Applied Arts bachelor's degree recipients from Iowa State University receive an earnings boost of about $3,520 above the average earnings of design & applied arts graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Iowa State University

3

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN

116 Annual Graduates

$40,607 Median Starting Salary

$24,000 Median Student Debt

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is a great choice for students interested in a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. Located in the large city of Minneapolis, UMN Twin Cities is a public university with a very large student population.

Design & Applied Arts bachelor's degree recipients from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities receive an earnings boost of about $7,062 over the typical income of design & applied arts majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

4

University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS

69 Annual Graduates

$32,536 Median Starting Salary

$26,000 Median Student Debt

It's hard to beat University of Kansas if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. KU is a very large public university located in the city of Lawrence.

After graduation, design bachelor's recipients usually make around $32,536 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from University of Kansas

5

Drake University
Des Moines, IA

16 Annual Graduates

Located in the midsize city of Des Moines, Drake is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Drake University

6

Luther College
Decorah, IA

11 Annual Graduates

Luther is a small private not-for-profit college located in the remote town of Decorah.More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Luther College

7

University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls, IA

50 Annual Graduates

$34,800 Median Starting Salary

$25,100 Median Student Debt

Located in the small city of Cedar Falls, UNI is a public university with a moderately-sized student population.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the design program make about $34,800 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from University of Northern Iowa

8

University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Lincoln, NE

38 Annual Graduates

$21,500 Median Student Debt

UNL is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Lincoln.More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from University of Nebraska - Lincoln

9

Maryville University of Saint Louis
Saint Louis, MO

42 Annual Graduates

$39,469 Median Starting Salary

$24,621 Median Student Debt

Located in the large suburb of Saint Louis, Maryville U is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.

Those design & applied arts students who get their bachelor's degree from Maryville University of Saint Louis receive $5,924 more than the standard design graduate.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Maryville University of Saint Louis

10

Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Minneapolis, MN

67 Annual Graduates

$23,412 Median Starting Salary

$27,000 Median Student Debt

MCAD is a small private not-for-profit college located in the city of Minneapolis.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the design program state that they receive average early career earnings of $23,412.

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

Best Design & Applied Arts Colleges by State

Explore the best design & applied arts colleges for a specific state in the Plains States Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Missouri	228	342
Minnesota	215	351
Iowa	197	378
Kansas	184	137
Nebraska	180	119
North Dakota	149	22
South Dakota	148	51

View All Rankings >

Design & Applied Arts Related Rankings by Major

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

Design Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Graphic Design	633
Visual Communications	250
Interior Design	200
Commercial & Advertising Art	110
Illustration	82
Industrial Design	81
Fashion Design	23
Game & Interactive Media Design	22
Other Design & Applied Arts	1

Majors Similar to Design

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts	1,493
Music	862
Drama & Theater Arts	798
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	423
General Visual & Performing Arts	229
Dance	96
Arts & Media Management	50
Other Visual Art	5

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.