2025 Best Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools in the New England Region

If you plan on getting your master's degree in design & applied arts, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #72 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 2 schools in the New England Region to determine which ones were the best for design & applied arts students pursuing a master's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 125 master's degrees in design & applied arts to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

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 - The number of design & applied arts students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
• 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 easy is it for design & applied arts to pay back their student loans after receiving their master'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 colleges for design & applied arts students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Design & Applied Arts Master's Degree Schools in the New England Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Design & Applied Arts in the New England Region

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

Top New England Region Schools for a Master's in Design

1

Northeastern University
Boston, MA

24 Annual Graduates

Every student who is interested in a master's degree in design & applied arts needs to take a look at Northeastern University. Located in the city of Boston, Northeastern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from Northeastern University

2

Boston University
Boston, MA

17 Annual Graduates

Boston University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in design & applied arts. Located in the large city of Boston, Boston U is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in design & applied arts from Boston University

Best Design & Applied Arts Colleges by State

Explore the best design & applied arts schools for a specific state in the New England Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Massachusetts	222	63
Connecticut	153	15
New Hampshire	108	0
Vermont	91	11

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Rankings in Majors Related to Design

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

Design Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Graphic Design	53
Other Design & Applied Arts	35
Interior Design	21
Visual Communications	11
Illustration	5

Most Popular Majors Related to Design

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Music	558
Fine & Studio Arts	286
Arts & Media Management	153
Drama & Theater Arts	113
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	72
General Visual & Performing Arts	59
Other Visual Art	31
Dance	7

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.