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2025 Best General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools

76 Colleges in the United States
4,199 Bachelor's Degrees
$25,356 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on getting your bachelor's degree in general visual & performing arts, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #94 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 76 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for general visual & performing arts students pursuing a bachelor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 4,199 bachelor's degrees in general visual & performing arts during the <nil> academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great General Visual & Performing Arts School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools Your choice of general visual & performing 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 colleges for general visual & performing arts students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank General Visual & Performing Arts Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Visual 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 General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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 General Visual & Performing Arts in the United States

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in general visual & performing 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 Bachelor's in Visual Arts

1
39 Annual Graduates

University of Southern California is a good decision for students interested in a bachelor's degree in general visual & performing arts. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles.More information about a bachelor’s in general visual & performing arts from University of Southern California

2
UF crest
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL

It's hard to beat University of Florida if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in general visual & performing arts. Located in the city of Gainesville, UF is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Those general visual & performing arts students who get their bachelor's degree from University of Florida receive $5,273 more than the standard visual arts student.

More information about a bachelor’s in general visual & performing arts from University of Florida

3
97 Annual Graduates
$29,707 Median Starting Salary
$35,874 Median Student Debt

The University of Texas at Austin is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in general visual & performing arts. Located in the large city of Austin, UT Austin is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the general visual & performing arts program at The University of Texas at Austin make $4,351 above the average college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in general visual & performing arts from The University of Texas at Austin

4

It's hard to beat Arizona State University - Tempe if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in general visual & performing arts. ASU - Tempe is a very large public university located in the city of Tempe.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the visual arts program earn around $22,817 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a bachelor’s in general visual & performing arts from Arizona State University - Tempe

5

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

After graduation, visual arts bachelor's recipients typically earn an average of $27,246 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in general visual & performing arts from Northeastern University

6
62 Annual Graduates

UCSD is a fairly large public university located in the city of La Jolla.More information about a bachelor’s in general visual & performing arts from University of California - San Diego

7

GMU is a very large public university located in the suburb of Fairfax.

General Visual & Performing Arts bachelor's degree recipients from George Mason University get an earnings boost of approximately $6,585 above the typical earnings of general visual & performing arts majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in general visual & performing arts from George Mason University

8
Michigan State crest
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI
13 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in general visual & performing arts from Michigan State University

9

Located in the medium-sized city of Richardson, UT Dallas is a public university with a very large student population.

General Visual & Performing Arts bachelor's degree recipients from The University of Texas at Dallas receive an earnings boost of around $3,138 over the average earnings of general visual & performing arts graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in general visual & performing arts from The University of Texas at Dallas

10
101 Annual Graduates
$21,558 Median Starting Salary
$63,603 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of Los Angeles, Otis College of Art and Design is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the visual arts program make about $21,558 in their early career salary.

More information about a bachelor’s in general visual & performing arts from Otis College of Art and Design

11
15 Annual Graduates

OHIO Athens is a very large public university located in the distant town of Athens.More information about a bachelor’s in general visual & performing arts from Ohio University - Athens Campus

12

UCF is a very large public university located in the suburb of Orlando.

Bachelor's recipients from the general visual & performing arts major at University of Central Florida make $3,522 above the typical graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in general visual & performing arts from University of Central Florida

13

UW - Whitewater is a large public university located in the town of Whitewater.

Those general visual & performing arts students who get their bachelor's degree from University of Wisconsin - Whitewater receive $2,870 more than the typical visual arts grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in general visual & performing arts from University of Wisconsin - Whitewater

14
11 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Ames, Iowa State is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in general visual & performing arts from Iowa State University

15

UK is a very large public university located in the large city of Lexington.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the visual arts program earn around $26,343 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in general visual & performing arts from University of Kentucky

Rest of the Top Best General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional great schools for General Visual & Performing Arts students that almost earned our Best General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
16 University of Nebraska - Lincoln Lincoln, NE
17 University of Missouri - Columbia Columbia, MO
18 Wichita State University Wichita, KS
19 Academy of Art University San Francisco, CA
20 Longwood University Farmville, VA
21 Bennington College Bennington, VT
22 SUNY Oneonta Oneonta, NY
23 Elmhurst University Elmhurst, IL
24 Lesley University Cambridge, MA
25 Azusa Pacific University Azusa, CA

General Visual & Performing Arts by Region

View the Best General Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor'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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General Visual & Performing Arts is one of 10 different types of Visual & Performing Arts programs to choose from.

Visual Arts Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Digital Arts 2,722
Visual & Performing Arts 1,477

Majors Similar to Visual Arts

Related Major Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts 23,952
Design & Applied Arts 19,777
Music 15,299
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 12,664
Drama & Theater Arts 12,468
Arts & Media Management 2,899
Dance 2,650
Other Visual Art 483
Crafts, Folk Art & Artisanry 61
Community/Environmental/Socially-Engaged Art 6

Notes and References

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