2025 Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Southeast Region
74Colleges in the Southeast Region
8,008Design Degrees Awarded
$32,983Avg Early-Career Salary
Ranked #36 in popularity, design & applied arts is one of the most sought-after 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 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 74 schools in the Southeast Region to determine which ones were the best for design & applied arts students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 8,008 degrees in design & applied arts to qualified students.
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. For our Best Overall Design & Applied Arts School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that 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.
When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Southeast Region list to help you make the college decision.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
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.
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 Southeast Region
The schools below may not offer all types of design degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
It is difficult to beat Savannah College of Art and Design if you wish to pursue a degree in design & applied arts. Located in the city of Savannah, SCAD is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
There were approximately 887 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at SCAD in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the design program earn an average of $25,265 in the first couple years of their career.
Every student pursuing a degree in design & applied arts has to look into University of Florida. UF is a very large public university located in the city of Gainesville. A Best Colleges rank of #56 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UF is a great university overall.
There were approximately 85 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at UF in the most recent year we have data available. Those design & applied arts students who get their degree from University of Florida earn $10,161 more than the typical design graduate.
Translate your creative ideas through concept, design and digital media with a bachelor's in graphic design online from Southern New Hampshire University.
Any student who is interested in design & applied arts needs to look into Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech is a fairly large public school located in the city of Blacksburg. A Best Colleges rank of #58 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Virginia Tech is a great school overall.
There were about 71 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Virginia Tech in the most recent year we have data available. Design & Applied Arts degree recipients from Virginia Tech get an earnings boost of around $13,778 over the typical earnings of design & applied arts majors.
Auburn University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in design & applied arts. Located in the city of Auburn, Auburn is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #169 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Auburn is a great university overall.
There were approximately 165 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Auburn in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the design & applied arts degree program at Auburn University make $13,602 above the standard college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.
VCU is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Richmond. A Best Colleges rank of #189 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means VCU is a great university overall.
There were roughly 333 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at VCU in the most recent data year. After graduation, design degree recipients generally earn about $25,872 in the first five years of their career.
Located in the medium-sized suburb of Clemson, Clemson is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #149 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Clemson is a great university overall.
There were roughly 94 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Clemson in the most recent year we have data available. Those design & applied arts students who get their degree from Clemson University earn $13,706 more than the average design graduate.
Located in the city of Raleigh, NC State is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #122 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means NC State is a great university overall.
There were roughly 95 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at NC State in the most recent data year. Design & Applied Arts degree recipients from North Carolina State University receive an earnings boost of approximately $14,053 above the typical earnings of design & applied arts graduates.
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.
Georgia Tech is a very large public school located in the city of Atlanta. A Best Colleges rank of #19 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Georgia Tech is a great school overall.
There were about 83 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Georgia Tech in the most recent data year. Design & Applied Arts degree recipients from Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus earn a boost of approximately $19,711 over the average earnings of design & applied arts graduates.
Appalachian State is a very large public university located in the distant town of Boone. This university ranks 11th out of 93 colleges for overall quality in the state of North Carolina.
There were approximately 128 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Appalachian State in the most recent year we have data available. After graduation, design degree recipients generally make around $34,722 in the first five years of their career.
Located in the city of Nashville, Belmont is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. This university ranks 3rd out of 41 schools for overall quality in the state of Tennessee.
There were about 43 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Belmont in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the design program make around $28,702 in the first couple years of their career.
Florida State is a fairly large public university located in the city of Tallahassee. A Best Colleges rank of #117 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Florida State is a great university overall.
There were about 54 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Florida State in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the design & applied arts major at Florida State University make $16,161 above the typical college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
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.
Located in the small city of Sarasota, Ringling College is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
There were approximately 118 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Ringling College in the most recent year we have data available. After graduation, design degree recipients generally make around $28,137 in the first five years of their career.
Liberty University is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Lynchburg. This university ranks 11th out of 57 schools for overall quality in the state of Virginia.
There were roughly 274 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at Liberty University in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, design degree recipients typically make around $30,574 at the beginning of their careers.
Located in the city of Lexington, UK is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #220 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UK is a great university overall.
There were about 20 design & applied arts students who graduated with this degree at UK in the most recent data year. Design & Applied Arts degree recipients from University of Kentucky earn a boost of about $9,185 above the typical income of design & applied arts majors.
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.
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Southeast 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. For our Best Overall Design & Applied Arts School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
