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2025 Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois

21 Colleges in Illinois
3,958 Bachelor's Degrees
$25,992 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on getting your bachelor's degree in visual & performing arts, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #9 in the country in terms of popularity. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 21 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 3,958 bachelor's degrees in visual & performing arts during the 2021-2022 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

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

Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois The visual & performing arts bachelor'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 bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we consider a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a host of various 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 bachelor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your bachelor'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 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 bachelor'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

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Visual & Performing Arts in Illinois

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

10 Top Illinois Schools for a Bachelor's in Visual & Performing Arts

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
195 Annual Graduates

Northwestern University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in visual & performing arts. 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 bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from Northwestern University

2
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
746 Annual Graduates

Columbia College Chicago is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in visual & performing arts. Columbia is a medium-sized private not-for-profit college located in the city of Chicago.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from Columbia College Chicago

3
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
597 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in visual & performing arts needs to take a look at School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Located in the large city of Chicago, School of the Art Institute of Chicago is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from School of the Art Institute of Chicago

4
DePaul crest
DePaul University
Chicago, IL
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
395 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in visual & performing arts has to take a look at DePaul University. DePaul is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Chicago.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from DePaul University

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
232 Annual Graduates

UIUC is a fairly large public university located in the city of Champaign.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

6
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
228 Annual Graduates

Illinois State is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized suburb of Normal.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from Illinois State University

7
38 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Wheaton, Wheaton College Illinois is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from Wheaton College Illinois

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
178 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Chicago, UIC is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from University of Illinois at Chicago

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
83 Annual Graduates

Bradley is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Peoria.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from Bradley University

10
34 Annual Graduates

Illinois Wesleyan is a small private not-for-profit university located in the city of Bloomington.More information about a bachelor’s in visual & performing arts from Illinois Wesleyan University

Best Visual & Performing Arts Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Michigan 35 2,496
Ohio 34 3,472
Indiana 33 1,752
Wisconsin 31 1,754

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Visual & Performing Arts Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts 1,196
Drama & Theater Arts 784
Design & Applied Arts 762
Music 552
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 408
Arts & Media Management 131
General Visual & Performing Arts 53
Dance 38
Other Visual Art 34

Notes and References

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