2025 Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Region
70Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
4,323Fine Arts Degrees Awarded
$26,338Avg Early-Career Salary
Ranked #31 in popularity, fine & studio arts is one of the most sought-after degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 70 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for fine & studio arts students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 4,323 degrees in fine & studio arts annually.
The fine arts program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Fine & Studio Arts rankings. For our Best Overall Fine & Studio 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.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.
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 Fine & Studio Arts in the Great Lakes Region
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the fine arts degrees they offer, see the list below. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
It's hard to beat University of Michigan - Ann Arbor if you want to pursue a degree in fine & studio arts. Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #22 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.
There were roughly 170 fine & studio arts students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent data year. Those fine & studio arts students who get their degree from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor receive $5,029 more than the typical fine arts student.
Every student pursuing a degree in fine & studio arts needs to look into Northwestern University. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.
There were approximately 24 fine & studio arts students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent year we have data available.
Every student pursuing a degree in fine & studio arts has to look into University of Notre Dame. Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Notre Dame. A Best Colleges rank of #29 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Notre Dame is a great university overall.
There were roughly 14 fine & studio arts students who graduated with this degree at Notre Dame in the most recent data year.
University of Wisconsin - Madison is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in fine & studio arts. UW - Madison is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Madison. A Best Colleges rank of #40 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UW - Madison is a great university overall.
There were roughly 200 fine & studio arts students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent data year. Those fine & studio arts students who get their degree from University of Wisconsin - Madison earn $4,278 more than the typical fine arts grad.
Located in the city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #70 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Ohio State is a great university overall.
There were roughly 107 fine & studio arts students who graduated with this degree at Ohio State in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the fine & studio arts major at Ohio State University - Main Campus make $2,848 above the standard graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Located in the small city of Bloomington, IU Bloomington is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #30 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means IU Bloomington is a great university overall.
There were roughly 73 fine & studio arts students who graduated with this degree at IU Bloomington in the most recent data year. Those fine & studio arts students who get their degree from Indiana University - Bloomington make $3,006 more than the typical fine arts graduate.
Located in the city of Chicago, School of the Art Institute of Chicago is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
There were roughly 735 fine & studio arts students who graduated with this degree at School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the fine arts program make about $24,133 in their early career salary.
UIUC is a fairly large public university located in the city of Champaign. A Best Colleges rank of #41 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.
There were about 48 fine & studio arts students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the fine & studio arts program at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign get $2,331 above the typical college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Illinois State is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Normal. This university ranks 8th out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were about 105 fine & studio arts students who graduated with this degree at Illinois State in the most recent data year. Fine & Studio Arts degree recipients from Illinois State University receive an earnings boost of around $9,629 over the average income of fine & studio arts graduates.
Located in the small city of Muncie, Ball State is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #181 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Ball State is a great university overall.
There were roughly 85 fine & studio arts students who graduated with this degree at Ball State in the most recent data year. Fine & Studio Arts degree recipients from Ball State University get an earnings boost of approximately $2,067 over the average income of fine & studio arts graduates.
Columbia is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit college located in the city of Chicago. This college ranks 9th out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were about 50 fine & studio arts students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the fine arts program report average early career income of $22,765.
Located in the city of Cincinnati, UC is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #137 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UC is a great university overall.
There were approximately 81 fine & studio arts students who graduated with this degree at UC in the most recent year we have data available. Fine & Studio Arts degree recipients from University of Cincinnati - Main Campus earn a boost of about $3,093 above the average earnings of fine & studio arts majors.
Located in the city of Cleveland, CIA is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.
There were roughly 25 fine & studio arts students who graduated with this degree at CIA in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the fine arts program state that they receive average early career wages of $18,839.
UWM is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Milwaukee. This university ranks 23rd out of 46 schools for overall quality in the state of Wisconsin.
There were about 133 fine & studio arts students who graduated with this degree at UWM in the most recent data year. Those fine & studio arts students who get their degree from University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee receive $5,670 more than the standard fine arts student.
Here are some additional great schools for Fine & Studio Arts students in the Great Lakes Region that almost earned our Best Fine & Studio Arts Schools in the Great Lakes 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).
Credit for the banner image above goes to Jorge Royan.
The fine arts program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Fine & Studio Arts rankings. For our Best Overall Fine & Studio Arts School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
