2025 Best General Visual & Performing Arts Master's Degree Schools in California

General Visual & Performing Arts is about average in terms of popularity for master's degrees programs. That is, it ranks #172 out of the 343 majors across the country that we analyze each year. So, you may have to do some digging around to find quality schools that offer the degree program. This list can help with that.

College Factual looked at 2 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best General Visual & Performing Arts Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 77 master's degrees in general visual & performing arts to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

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

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

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to general visual & performing arts students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other general visual & performing arts students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for general visual & performing arts to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized general visual & performing arts related body.

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

More Ways to Rank General Visual & Performing Arts Schools

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 Master's Degree Schools in California ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study General Visual & Performing Arts in California

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in general visual & performing arts.

Top California Schools for a Master's in Visual Arts

1

Academy of Art University
San Francisco, CA

41 Annual Graduates

Academy of Art University is a great decision for students interested in a master's degree in general visual & performing arts. Located in the large city of San Francisco, Academy of Art University is a private for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a master’s in general visual & performing arts from Academy of Art University

1

University of California - San Diego
La Jolla, CA

10 Annual Graduates

University of California - San Diego is a good decision for individuals pursuing a master's degree in general visual & performing arts. UCSD is a fairly large public university located in the large city of La Jolla.More information about a master’s in general visual & performing arts from University of California - San Diego

2

California State University - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

2 Annual Graduates

$22,247 Median Starting Salary

California State University - Los Angeles is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in general visual & performing arts. Cal State LA is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Los Angeles.

After graduating, visual arts master's recipients usually earn about $22,247 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a master’s in general visual & performing arts from California State University - Los Angeles

Best General Visual & Performing Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Oregon	158	0

View All Rankings >

General Visual & Performing Arts Related Rankings by Major

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

Visual Arts Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Digital Arts	58
Visual & Performing Arts	19

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	752
Music	479
Fine & Studio Arts	369
Drama & Theater Arts	299
Design & Applied Arts	216
Arts & Media Management	49
Dance	27
Other Visual Art	7

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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Sven Mandel / CC-BY-SA-4.0. More about our data sources and methodologies.