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

a master's degree in visual & performing arts is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #10 out of 37 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

College Factual looked at 3 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Visual & Performing Arts Master's Degree Schools in Virginia ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 452 master's degrees in visual & performing arts to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

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

Your choice of visual & performing arts for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality visual & performing arts program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

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 for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

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

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on visual & performing arts students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of visual & performing arts students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
• 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 much debt visual & performing arts students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized visual & performing arts related body.

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

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 in Virginia.

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

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for visual & performing arts students seeking a a master's degree.

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

1

Liberty University
Lynchburg, VA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

124 Annual Graduates

It is difficult to beat Liberty University if you wish to pursue a master's degree in visual & performing arts. Located in the small city of Lynchburg, Liberty University is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Liberty University

2

Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, VA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

44 Annual Graduates

Virginia Commonwealth University is a wonderful option for individuals interested in a master's degree in visual & performing arts. Located in the city of Richmond, VCU is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Virginia Commonwealth University

3

George Mason University
Fairfax, VA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

53 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in visual & performing arts needs to take a look at George Mason University. GMU is a very large public university located in the large suburb of Fairfax.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from George Mason University

Best Visual & Performing Arts Colleges in the Southeast Region

Explore all the Best Visual & Performing Arts Colleges in the Southeast Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Mississippi	34	76
Florida	34	893
Georgia	32	630
Tennessee	32	142
North Carolina	31	231
Kentucky	31	101
West Virginia	30	34
Alabama	30	72
Louisiana	30	144
South Carolina	30	94
Arkansas	30	71

View All Rankings >

Visual & Performing Arts Majors to Study

Major	Annual Graduates
Drama & Theater Arts	112
Music	100
Design & Applied Arts	98
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	46
Fine & Studio Arts	46
Arts & Media Management	37
Dance	10
General Visual & Performing Arts	3

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 Bonnielou2013. More about our data sources and methodologies.