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2025 Best Fine & Studio Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

67 Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
3,493 Bachelor's Degrees
$26,147 Avg Early-Career Salary
Fine & Studio Arts is of the hottest bachelor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #22 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

College Factual reviewed 67 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for bachelor's degree seekers in the field of fine & studio arts. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 3,493 bachelor's degrees in fine & studio arts during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Fine & Studio Arts School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Fine & Studio Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region Your choice of fine & studio arts for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Early-Career Earnings

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

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for fine & studio arts students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Fine & Studio Arts Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Fine Arts Rankings Other Ranking Categories

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Fine & Studio Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Fine & Studio Arts in the Great Lakes Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in fine & studio arts. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

13 Top Great Lakes Region Schools for a Bachelor's in Fine Arts

1
172 Annual Graduates
$31,367 Median Starting Salary
$39,676 Median Student Debt

Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in fine & studio arts needs to check out University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. U-M is a very large public university located in the city of Ann Arbor.

Bachelor's recipients from the fine & studio arts degree program at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor get $5,220 more than the standard college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in fine & studio arts from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

2
15 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in fine & studio arts has to check out Northwestern University. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Evanston.More information about a bachelor’s in fine & studio arts from Northwestern University

3
14 Annual Graduates

Every student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in fine & studio arts has to check out University of Notre Dame. Located in the large suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in fine & studio arts from University of Notre Dame

4

University of Wisconsin - Madison is a great option for individuals interested in a bachelor's degree in fine & studio arts. Located in the city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Those fine & studio arts students who get their bachelor's degree from University of Wisconsin - Madison make $4,356 more than the standard fine arts grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in fine & studio arts from University of Wisconsin - Madison

5
74 Annual Graduates
$29,186 Median Starting Salary
$35,690 Median Student Debt

Ohio State is a very large public university located in the large city of Columbus.

Bachelor's recipients from the fine & studio arts major at Ohio State University - Main Campus get $3,039 above the typical graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in fine & studio arts from Ohio State University - Main Campus

6

IU Bloomington is a very large public university located in the city of Bloomington.

Those fine & studio arts students who get their bachelor's degree from Indiana University - Bloomington receive $3,197 more than the typical fine arts student.

More information about a bachelor’s in fine & studio arts from Indiana University - Bloomington

7
581 Annual Graduates
$23,984 Median Starting Salary
$77,000 Median Student Debt

School of the Art Institute of Chicago is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

After graduation, fine arts bachelor's recipients generally make an average of $23,984 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in fine & studio arts from School of the Art Institute of Chicago

8

Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Fine & Studio Arts bachelor's degree recipients from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign earn a boost of around $2,522 over the typical earnings of fine & studio arts majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in fine & studio arts from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

9
97 Annual Graduates
$35,967 Median Starting Salary
$22,340 Median Student Debt

Located in the suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Fine & Studio Arts bachelor's degree recipients from Illinois State University get an earnings boost of around $9,820 above the typical earnings of fine & studio arts graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in fine & studio arts from Illinois State University

10
79 Annual Graduates
$31,985 Median Starting Salary
$14,000 Median Student Debt

Located in the large city of Milwaukee, UWM is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Fine & Studio Arts bachelor's degree recipients from University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee earn a boost of approximately $5,838 above the average income of fine & studio arts majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in fine & studio arts from University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

11
84 Annual Graduates
$28,405 Median Starting Salary
$27,135 Median Student Debt

Ball State is a fairly large public university located in the city of Muncie.

Bachelor's recipients from the fine & studio arts program at Ball State University get $2,258 more than the standard graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in fine & studio arts from Ball State University

12

Located in the large city of Chicago, Columbia is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the fine arts program make an average of $22,765 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in fine & studio arts from Columbia College Chicago

13
67 Annual Graduates
$29,431 Median Starting Salary
$30,000 Median Student Debt

UC is a very large public university located in the large city of Cincinnati.

Bachelor's recipients from the fine & studio arts major at University of Cincinnati - Main Campus earn $3,284 more than the typical graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in fine & studio arts from University of Cincinnati - Main Campus

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Fine & Studio Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.

Rank College Location
14 Cleveland Institute of Art Cleveland, OH
15 Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL
16 Michigan State University East Lansing, MI
17 Kent State University at Kent Kent, OH
18 Kenyon College Gambier, OH
19 Purdue University - Main Campus West Lafayette, IN
20 Ohio University - Athens Campus Athens, OH
21 Oberlin College Oberlin, OH
22 Indiana University - Purdue University - Indianapolis Indianapolis, IN

Best Fine & Studio Arts Colleges by State

Explore the best fine & studio arts colleges for a specific state in the Great Lakes Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Michigan 261 558
Ohio 252 784
Illinois 241 1,222
Indiana 235 579
Wisconsin 213 531

View All Rankings >

Fine & Studio Arts is one of 10 different types of Visual & Performing Arts programs to choose from.

Fine Arts Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Fine Arts 1,629
Art Studies 1,393
Art History 285
Other Fine Arts & Art Studies 79
Painting 32
Drawing 28
Intermedia/Multimedia 27
Sculpture 15
Jewelry Arts 3
Printmaking 1

Majors Similar to Fine Arts

Related Major Annual Graduates
Design & Applied Arts 3,013
Music 2,245
Drama & Theater Arts 1,934
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 1,337
Dance 311
Arts & Media Management 296
General Visual & Performing Arts 286
Other Visual Art 74
Crafts, Folk Art & Artisanry 12

Notes and References

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