2025 Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Kansas

If you pursue a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #27 most popular program in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 3 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Kansas ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 134 bachelor's degrees in design & applied arts to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools List

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

Your choice of design & applied arts for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality design program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

The overall quality of a bachelor'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 school's overall Best Colleges 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.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

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 - How many other design & applied arts students want to attend this school to pursue a bachelor's degree.
• 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 much debt design & applied arts students go into to obtain their bachelor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• 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 bachelor'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 Bachelor's Degree Schools in Kansas.

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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Design & Applied Arts in Kansas

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts.

Top Kansas Schools for a Bachelor's in Design

1

University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS

56 Annual Graduates

$37,508 Median Starting Salary

$26,616 Median Student Debt

Every student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts has to take a look at University of Kansas. Located in the city of Lawrence, KU is a public university with a fairly large student population.

After graduating, design bachelor's recipients generally earn around $37,508 in the first five years of their career.

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

2

Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS

17 Annual Graduates

$43,992 Median Starting Salary

It is difficult to beat Kansas State University if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. Located in the city of Manhattan, K -State is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the design & applied arts program at Kansas State University earn $7,099 above the standard college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

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

3

Wichita State University
Wichita, KS

15 Annual Graduates

$33,590 Median Starting Salary

Wichita State University is a wonderful choice for individuals pursuing a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. Located in the city of Wichita, WSU is a public university with a fairly large student population.

After graduating, design bachelor's recipients typically make around $33,590 in the first five years of their career.

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

Best Design & Applied Arts Colleges in the Plains States Region

Explore all the Best Design & Applied Arts Colleges in the Plains States Area or other specific states within that region.

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

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Rankings in Majors Related to Design

One of 10 majors within the Visual & Performing Arts area of study, Design & Applied Arts has other similar majors worth exploring.

Design Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Visual Communications	56
Graphic Design	47
Interior Design	29
Game & Interactive Media Design	2

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts	197
Music	107
General Visual & Performing Arts	71
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	69
Drama & Theater Arts	52
Dance	7
Arts & Media Management	1

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.