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

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.

College Factual reviewed 32 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for bachelor's degree seekers in the field of design & applied arts. Combined, these schools handed out 2,456 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 account for this we include a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a host of various 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 colleges 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 California.

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 California

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

10 Top California Schools for a Bachelor's in Design

1

University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA

67 Annual Graduates

$64,846 Median Starting Salary

It is difficult to beat University of Southern California if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the design & applied arts degree program at University of Southern California earn $30,922 above the average college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

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

2

FIDM/Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

48 Annual Graduates

$26,479 Median Starting Salary

$52,901 Median Student Debt

It's difficult to beat FIDM/Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - Los Angeles if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, FIDM Los Angeles is a private for-profit school with a small student population.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the design program earn around $26,479 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from FIDM/Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - Los Angeles

3

Art Center College of Design
Pasadena, CA

245 Annual Graduates

$47,053 Median Starting Salary

$85,769 Median Student Debt

Art Center College of Design is a great decision for individuals pursuing a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. Art Center College of Design is a small private not-for-profit college located in the medium-sized city of Pasadena.

Those design & applied arts students who get their bachelor's degree from Art Center College of Design receive $13,129 more than the standard design student.

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

4

University of California - Davis
Davis, CA

240 Annual Graduates

$32,816 Median Starting Salary

$24,813 Median Student Debt

It's difficult to beat University of California - Davis if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. UC Davis is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Davis.

Soon after graduating, design bachelor's recipients usually earn an average of $32,816 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from University of California - Davis

5

Chapman University
Orange, CA

26 Annual Graduates

$46,519 Median Starting Salary

Located in the midsize city of Orange, Chapman is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the design & applied arts major at Chapman University get $12,595 above the typical college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

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

6

University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

57 Annual Graduates

$57,615 Median Starting Salary

UCLA is a fairly large public university located in the city of Los Angeles.

Design & Applied Arts bachelor's degree recipients from University of California - Los Angeles receive an earnings boost of around $23,691 over the typical income of design & applied arts majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from University of California - Los Angeles

7

San Francisco State University
San Francisco, CA

178 Annual Graduates

$34,845 Median Starting Salary

$21,174 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of San Francisco, SFSU is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the design program state that they receive average early career income of $34,845.

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

8

Otis College of Art and Design
Los Angeles, CA

95 Annual Graduates

$31,172 Median Starting Salary

$63,868 Median Student Debt

Otis College of Art and Design is a small private not-for-profit college located in the city of Los Angeles.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the design program earn an average of $31,172 in the first couple years of their career.

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

9

California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA

108 Annual Graduates

$37,395 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public university with a very large student population.

Those design & applied arts students who get their bachelor's degree from California State University - Long Beach receive $3,471 more than the average design grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from California State University - Long Beach

10

California College of the Arts
San Francisco, CA

84 Annual Graduates

$28,673 Median Starting Salary

$30,000 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of San Francisco, California College of the Arts is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the design program make around $28,673 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from California College of the Arts

Best Design & Applied Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Design & Applied Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Washington	226	348
Oregon	185	303
Nevada	129	61
Hawaii	112	10

View All Rankings >

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	575
Graphic Design	485
Other Design & Applied Arts	362
Game & Interactive Media Design	297
Illustration	294
Interior Design	176
Industrial Design	169
Fashion Design	81
Commercial & Advertising Art	17

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts	3,997
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	2,722
Music	1,666
Drama & Theater Arts	1,591
General Visual & Performing Arts	416
Dance	300
Arts & Media Management	257
Other Visual Art	28

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.