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2024 Best Visual & Performing Arts Master's Degree Schools

345 Colleges in the United States
15,845 Master's Degrees
$32,741 Avg Early-Career Salary
Visual & Performing Arts is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #10 most popular master's degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

College Factual reviewed 345 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of visual & performing arts. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 15,845 master's degrees in visual & performing arts during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

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

Best Visual & Performing Arts Master's Degree Schools The visual & performing arts master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. 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 take this into account we include a school's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a combination of different 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 full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for visual & performing arts students working on their master's degree.

More Ways to Rank Visual & Performing Arts Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Visual & Performing Arts Rankings Other Ranking Categories

The visual & performing arts school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Visual & Performing Arts Master's Degree Schools.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Visual & Performing Arts in the United States

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in visual & performing arts. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

25 Top Schools for a Master's in Visual & Performing Arts

1
Rice crest
Rice University
Houston, TX
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
55 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in visual & performing arts needs to check out Rice University. Located in the city of Houston, Rice is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Rice University

2
NYU crest
New York University
New York, NY
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
492 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in visual & performing arts needs to check out New York University. NYU is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from New York University

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
317 Annual Graduates

Every student who is interested in a master's degree in visual & performing arts has to take a look at University of Southern California. 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 master’s in visual & performing arts from University of Southern California

3
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
6 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat University of Notre Dame if you want to pursue a master's degree in visual & performing arts. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Notre Dame.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from University of Notre Dame

4
Duke crest
Duke University
Durham, NC
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
35 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a master's degree in visual & performing arts needs to check out Duke University. Duke is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Durham.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Duke University

5
Yale crest
Yale University
New Haven, CT
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
210 Annual Graduates

Yale is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of New Haven.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Yale University

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
154 Annual Graduates

Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Northwestern University

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
184 Annual Graduates

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

8
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
155 Annual Graduates

Carnegie Mellon is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Pittsburgh.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Carnegie Mellon University

9
Juilliard crest
The Juilliard School
New York, NY
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
115 Annual Graduates

Juilliard is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from The Juilliard School

10
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
23 Annual Graduates

UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from University of Pennsylvania

11
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
104 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Johns Hopkins University

12
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
173 Annual Graduates

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

13
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
88 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

14
Emory crest
Emory University
Atlanta, GA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
5 Annual Graduates

Emory is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Atlanta.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Emory University

14
Michigan State crest
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
88 Annual Graduates

Michigan State is a fairly large public university located in the city of East Lansing.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Michigan State University

15
Boston U crest
Boston University
Boston, MA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
118 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Boston, Boston U is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Boston University

16
Dartmouth crest
Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
2 Annual Graduates

Located in the remote town of Hanover, Dartmouth is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Dartmouth College

17
Tufts crest
Tufts University
Medford, MA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
34 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Medford, Tufts is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Tufts University

18
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
32 Annual Graduates

WUSTL is a large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Saint Louis.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Washington University in St Louis

19
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
33 Annual Graduates

TCU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Fort Worth.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Texas Christian University

20
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
34 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from University of California - San Diego

21
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
97 Annual Graduates

Located in the midsize city of Orange, Chapman is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Chapman University

22
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
211 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Bloomington, IU Bloomington is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Indiana University - Bloomington

23
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
118 Annual Graduates

UT Austin is a fairly large public university located in the city of Austin.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from The University of Texas at Austin

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

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30
Brown crest
Brown University
Providence, RI
31
The American University crest
American University
Washington, DC
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42
UF crest
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL
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48
Academy of Art University crest
Academy of Art University
San Francisco, CA
49
Emerson crest
Emerson College
Boston, MA

Additional Award Winners

This section shows the rest of the colleges awarded a Best Visual & Performing Arts Master's Degree Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 345 different United States visual & performing arts schools we analyzed.

Rank College Location
50 Savannah College of Art and Design Savannah, GA
51 University of Central Florida Orlando, FL

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 Visual & Performing Arts Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
52 University of California - Davis Davis, CA
53 Massachusetts College of Art and Design Boston, MA
54 Temple University Philadelphia, PA
55 University of Iowa Iowa City, IA
56 Berklee College of Music Boston, MA
57 Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus Atlanta, GA
58 Mount Saint Mary’s University Los Angeles, CA
59 George Washington University Washington, DC
60 The New School New York, NY
61 The University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, TX
62 Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA
63 Manhattan School of Music New York, NY
64 The Graduate Center, CUNY New York, NY
65 University of Kentucky Lexington, KY
66 University of Cincinnati - Main Campus Cincinnati, OH
67 University of Washington - Seattle Campus Seattle, WA
68 Syracuse University Syracuse, NY
69 University of Georgia Athens, GA

Visual & Performing Arts by Region

View the Best Visual & Performing 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

View All Rankings >

Visual & Performing Arts Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Music 5,778
Fine & Studio Arts 2,984
Design & Applied Arts 1,931
Drama & Theater Arts 1,611
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 1,610
Arts & Media Management 1,115
General Visual & Performing Arts 343
Dance 245
Other Visual Art 215
Crafts, Folk Art & Artisanry 13

Notes and References

Popular Reports

College Rankings
Best by Location
Degree Guides by Major
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