by our College Data Analytics TeamFor its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 101 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for visual & performing arts students pursuing a doctor's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 1,669 doctor's degrees in visual & performing arts to qualified students.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
Your choice of visual & performing arts for getting your doctor'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 school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To take this into account we include a school's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a host of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of doctorate graduates during the early years of their career. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their doctor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for visual & performing arts students working on their doctor's degree.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Visual & Performing Arts Doctor's Degree Schools ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for visual & performing arts students seeking a a doctor's degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
Northwestern University is a great option for students interested in a doctor's degree in visual & performing 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 doctorate in visual & performing arts from Northwestern University
Emory University is a great choice for individuals pursuing a doctor's degree in visual & performing arts. Emory is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Atlanta.More information about a doctorate in visual & performing arts from Emory University
Michigan State University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in visual & performing arts. Michigan State is a fairly large public university located in the small city of East Lansing.More information about a doctorate in visual & performing arts from Michigan State University
Every student who is interested in a doctor's degree in visual & performing arts needs to look into Duke University. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Durham.More information about a doctorate in visual & performing arts from Duke University
Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York.More information about a doctorate in visual & performing arts from Columbia University in the City of New York
Carnegie Mellon is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Pittsburgh.More information about a doctorate in visual & performing arts from Carnegie Mellon University
Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in visual & performing arts from University of Southern California
Yale is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New Haven.More information about a doctorate in visual & performing arts from Yale University
NYU is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York.More information about a doctorate in visual & performing arts from New York University
SMU is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Dallas.More information about a doctorate in visual & performing arts from Southern Methodist University
Located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in visual & performing arts from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
UT Austin is a very large public university located in the large city of Austin.More information about a doctorate in visual & performing arts from The University of Texas at Austin
Illinois Tech is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.More information about a doctorate in visual & performing arts from Illinois Institute of Technology
University of Rochester is a large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Rochester.More information about a doctorate in visual & performing arts from University of Rochester
WUSTL is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Saint Louis.More information about a doctorate in visual & performing arts from Washington University in St Louis
UW - Madison is a fairly large public university located in the city of Madison.More information about a doctorate in visual & performing arts from University of Wisconsin - Madison
Here are some additional great schools for Visual & Performing Arts students that almost earned our Best Visual & Performing Arts Doctor's Degree Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | University of California - Berkeley | Berkeley, CA |
| 17 | Indiana University - Bloomington | Bloomington, IN |
| 18 | Rice University | Houston, TX |
| 19 | University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia, PA |
| 20 | University of California - Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA |
| 21 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Champaign, IL |
| 22 | Texas Christian University | Fort Worth, TX |
| 22 | University of Miami | Coral Gables, FL |
| 23 | Tufts University | Medford, MA |
| 24 | Ohio State University - Main Campus | Columbus, OH |
| 25 | The Graduate Center, CUNY | New York, NY |
View the Best Visual & Performing Arts Doctor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Music | 1,327 |
| Fine & Studio Arts | 160 |
| Drama & Theater Arts | 69 |
| Film, Video & Photographic Arts | 46 |
| General Visual & Performing Arts | 32 |
| Other Visual Art | 16 |
| Dance | 8 |
| Arts & Media Management | 7 |
| Design & Applied Arts | 4 |
