22
Colleges in Illinois
5,553
Visual & Performing Arts Degrees Awarded
$27,860
Avg Early-Career Salary
A degree in
visual & performing arts is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #10 out of 38 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 22 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools in Illinois ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 5,553 degrees in visual & performing arts annually.
What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings
The visual & performing arts program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Visual & Performing Arts rankings. We derive our Best Overall Visual & Performing Arts School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools in Illinois list to help you make the college decision.
You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
More information on how we come up with our rankings can be found here: College Factual's Data Methodology.
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the visual & performing arts degrees they offer, see the list below.
Northwestern University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a 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. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.
There were roughly 422 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the visual & performing arts program make around $28,104 for their early career.
More information about a degree in visual & performing arts from Northwestern University
Columbia College Chicago is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in visual & performing arts. Columbia is a medium-sized private not-for-profit college located in the city of Chicago. A Best Colleges rank of #212 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Columbia is a great college overall.
There were roughly 827.9999999999999 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the visual & performing arts program state that they receive average early career earnings of $24,386.
More information about a degree in visual & performing arts from Columbia College Chicago
Any student pursuing a degree in visual & performing arts has to look into 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.
There were about 787 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the visual & performing arts program earn an average of $24,133 for their early career.
More information about a degree in visual & performing arts from School of the Art Institute of Chicago
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in visual & performing arts. UIUC is a very large public university located in the small city of Champaign. A Best Colleges rank of #41 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.
There were about 355 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, visual & performing arts degree recipients generally make an average of $28,798 in the first five years of their career.
More information about a degree in visual & performing arts from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
DePaul is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago. A Best Colleges rank of #135 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means DePaul is a great university overall.
There were roughly 519 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at DePaul in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the visual & performing arts program make about $25,232 in their early career salary.
More information about a degree in visual & performing arts from DePaul University
Located in the large suburb of Wheaton, Wheaton College Illinois is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population. A Best Colleges rank of #407 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Wheaton College Illinois is a great college overall.
There were approximately 38 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at Wheaton College Illinois in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, visual & performing arts degree recipients usually make around $26,540 in the first five years of their career.
More information about a degree in visual & performing arts from Wheaton College Illinois
Illinois State is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized suburb of Normal. A Best Colleges rank of #210 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Illinois State is a great university overall.
There were roughly 273 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at Illinois State in the most recent data year. Visual & Performing Arts degree recipients from Illinois State University earn a boost of around $5,493 over the average earnings of visual & performing arts graduates.
More information about a degree in visual & performing arts from Illinois State University
Located in the city of Chicago, UIC is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #254 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UIC is a great university overall.
There were approximately 216.00000000000003 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at UIC in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, visual & performing arts degree recipients usually earn an average of $28,046 at the beginning of their careers.
More information about a degree in visual & performing arts from University of Illinois at Chicago
Roosevelt is a small private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago. This university ranks 24th out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were approximately 116 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at Roosevelt in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, visual & performing arts degree recipients generally make an average of $23,835 at the beginning of their careers.
More information about a degree in visual & performing arts from Roosevelt University
Bradley is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Peoria. A Best Colleges rank of #519 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Bradley is a great university overall.
There were about 90 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at Bradley in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the visual & performing arts program state that they receive average early career income of $22,893.
More information about a degree in visual & performing arts from Bradley University
