2025 Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Region
61Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
5,430Design Degrees Awarded
$32,983Avg Early-Career Salary
If you pursue a degree in design & applied arts, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #36 most popular program in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 61 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 5,430 degrees in design & applied arts annually.
Translate your creative ideas through concept, design and digital media with a bachelor's in graphic design online from Southern New Hampshire University.
Take the first step toward a career of visual expression and doing what you love with this online associate degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
Learn to create a striking portfolio and hone the skills you need to succeed in the world of professional photography with this online digital photography degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
Your choice of design & applied arts school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for design & applied arts schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to 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.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
Translate your creative ideas through concept, design and digital media with a bachelor's in graphic design online from Southern New Hampshire University.
Take the first step toward a career of visual expression and doing what you love with this online associate degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
Learn to create a striking portfolio and hone the skills you need to succeed in the world of professional photography with this online digital photography degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
Best Schools for Design & Applied Arts in the Great Lakes Region
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the design degrees they offer, see the list below. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
University of Cincinnati - Main Campus is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in design & applied arts. Located in the city of Cincinnati, UC is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #137 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UC is a great university overall.
There were about 227 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at UC in the most recent year we have data available. Design & Applied Arts degree recipients from University of Cincinnati - Main Campus get an earnings boost of about $19,543 above the average earnings of design & applied arts majors.
It is difficult to beat University of Notre Dame if you want to pursue a degree in design & applied arts. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Notre Dame. A Best Colleges rank of #29 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Notre Dame is a great university overall.
There were approximately 29 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Notre Dame in the most recent data year. Design & Applied Arts degree recipients from University of Notre Dame get an earnings boost of approximately $13,842 above the typical income of design & applied arts majors.
Translate your creative ideas through concept, design and digital media with a bachelor's in graphic design online from Southern New Hampshire University.
Michigan State University is a wonderful decision for students pursuing a degree in design & applied arts. Michigan State is a very large public university located in the small city of East Lansing. A Best Colleges rank of #54 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Michigan State is a great university overall.
There were approximately 110 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Michigan State in the most recent year we have data available. Design & Applied Arts degree recipients from Michigan State University get an earnings boost of about $3,801 over the average earnings of design & applied arts majors.
Any student who is interested in design & applied arts has to look into Columbia College Chicago. Columbia is a medium-sized private not-for-profit college located in the city of Chicago. This college ranks 9th out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were approximately 239.00000000000003 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, design degree recipients generally earn about $29,630 in the first five years of their career.
Located in the suburb of Kent, Kent State is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 9th out of 91 colleges for overall quality in the state of Ohio.
There were about 271 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Kent State in the most recent year we have data available. Design & Applied Arts degree recipients from Kent State University at Kent earn a boost of about $3,368 above the average earnings of design & applied arts majors.
UIUC is a very large public university located in the small city of Champaign. A Best Colleges rank of #41 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.
There were about 100 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, design degree recipients typically make around $34,670 in their early careers.
Madison College is a large public college located in the large city of Madison. This college ranks 5th out of 46 colleges for overall quality in the state of Wisconsin.
There were about 76 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Madison College in the most recent data year. After graduation, design degree recipients usually earn about $30,710 in the first five years of their career.
Take the first step toward a career of visual expression and doing what you love with this online associate degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
MIAD is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Milwaukee.
There were approximately 124 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at MIAD in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the design program report average early career income of $28,801.
Located in the city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #70 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Ohio State is a great university overall.
There were roughly 42 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Ohio State in the most recent year we have data available. Design & Applied Arts degree recipients from Ohio State University - Main Campus earn a boost of about $12,193 over the typical earnings of design & applied arts graduates.
Located in the small city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #65 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Purdue is a great university overall.
There were roughly 65 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Purdue in the most recent data year. Design & Applied Arts degree recipients from Purdue University - Main Campus earn a boost of around $11,619 above the typical income of design & applied arts graduates.
CCS is a small private not-for-profit college located in the city of Detroit.
There were about 98 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at CCS in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, design degree recipients typically earn an average of $32,665 in the first five years of their career.
Learn to create a striking portfolio and hone the skills you need to succeed in the world of professional photography with this online digital photography degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
UW - Madison is a very large public university located in the large city of Madison. A Best Colleges rank of #40 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UW - Madison is a great university overall.
There were about 92 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent data year. Design & Applied Arts degree recipients from University of Wisconsin - Madison earn a boost of about $16,797 over the average income of design & applied arts graduates.
Get on the right path to the fast-paced, exciting world of video game art and design with this online bachelor's from Southern New Hampshire University.
Gain a solid grounding in your online web design classes and exercise your creative muscle with this specialized online bachelor's from Southern New Hampshire University.
Here are some additional great schools for Design & Applied Arts students in the Great Lakes Region that almost earned our Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.
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).
Your choice of design & applied arts school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for design & applied arts schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
