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2025 Best Fine & Studio Arts Master's Degree Schools

78 Colleges in the United States
2,948 Master's Degrees
$35,029 Avg Early-Career Salary
a master's degree in fine & studio arts is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #58 out of 343 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

College Factual reviewed 78 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of fine & studio arts. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,948 master's degrees in fine & studio arts during the 2021-2022 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

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

Best Fine & Studio Arts Master's Degree Schools Your choice of fine & studio arts for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality fine arts program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

The overall quality of a master'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 school's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree 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 Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

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

One Size Does Not Fit All

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

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

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Fine & Studio Arts in the United States

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master'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.

15 Top Schools for a Master's in Fine Arts

1
NYU crest
New York University
New York, NY

New York University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in fine & studio arts. NYU is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York.

Fine & Studio Arts master's degree recipients from New York University get an earnings boost of about $6,929 over the average income of fine & studio arts majors.

More information about a master’s in fine & studio arts from New York University

2
16 Annual Graduates

University of Southern California is a good decision for students interested in a master's degree in fine & studio arts. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in fine & studio arts from University of Southern California

3
8 Annual Graduates

Northwestern University is a good option for students interested in a master's degree in fine & studio arts. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in fine & studio arts from Northwestern University

4
4 Annual Graduates

Washington University in St Louis is a great option for students interested in a master's degree in fine & studio arts. WUSTL is a large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Saint Louis.More information about a master’s in fine & studio arts from Washington University in St Louis

5

Located in the medium-sized city of Providence, RISD is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Master's students who receive their degree from the fine arts program earn an average of $28,281 in their early career salary.

More information about a master’s in fine & studio arts from Rhode Island School of Design

6
Boston U crest
Boston University
Boston, MA

Located in the large city of Boston, Boston U is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.

Fine & Studio Arts master's degree recipients from Boston University earn a boost of about $2,049 over the typical earnings of fine & studio arts majors.

More information about a master’s in fine & studio arts from Boston University

7

MICA is a small private not-for-profit college located in the large city of Baltimore.

Master's students who receive their degree from the fine arts program earn around $30,247 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a master’s in fine & studio arts from Maryland Institute College of Art

8
16 Annual Graduates

UCLA is a very large public university located in the city of Los Angeles.More information about a master’s in fine & studio arts from University of California - Los Angeles

9
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA

UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Philadelphia.

After graduation, fine arts master's recipients generally make about $30,417 in their early careers.

More information about a master’s in fine & studio arts from University of Pennsylvania

10
UF crest
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL

UF is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Gainesville.

Soon after graduating, fine arts master's recipients usually make around $33,627 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a master’s in fine & studio arts from University of Florida

11

Massachusetts College of Art and Design is a small public college located in the city of Boston.

Master's recipients from the fine & studio arts program at Massachusetts College of Art and Design earn $19,690 above the typical college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in fine & studio arts from Massachusetts College of Art and Design

12
33 Annual Graduates

Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York.More information about a master’s in fine & studio arts from Columbia University in the City of New York

13

UW - Madison is a very large public university located in the large city of Madison.

Master's students who receive their degree from the fine arts program earn about $30,934 for their early career.

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

14
Tufts crest
Tufts University
Medford, MA

Located in the large suburb of Medford, Tufts is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the fine arts program earn an average of $34,047 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a master’s in fine & studio arts from Tufts University

15

Pratt Institute is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Brooklyn.

After graduation, fine arts master's recipients generally make an average of $32,780 in their early careers.

More information about a master’s in fine & studio arts from Pratt Institute - Main

Rest of the Top Best Fine & Studio Arts Master's Degree Schools

Honorable Mentions

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 Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
26 American University Washington, DC
16 The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX
17 Indiana University - Bloomington Bloomington, IN
18 University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA
19 Savannah College of Art and Design Savannah, GA

Fine & Studio Arts by Region

View the Best Fine & Studio Arts Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

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One of 10 majors within the Visual & Performing Arts area of study, Fine & Studio Arts has other similar majors worth exploring.

Fine Arts Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Fine Arts 1,156
Art History 762
Art Studies 532
Other Fine Arts & Art Studies 148
Painting 135
Printmaking 43
Sculpture 42
Ceramic Arts & Ceramics 34
Fiber, Textile & Weaving Arts 32
Intermedia/Multimedia 26

Related Major Annual Graduates
Music 5,531
Design & Applied Arts 1,944
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 1,704
Drama & Theater Arts 1,670
Arts & Media Management 1,110
General Visual & Performing Arts 365
Other Visual Art 298
Dance 233
Crafts, Folk Art & Artisanry 5
Community/Environmental/Socially-Engaged Art 1

Notes and References

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