2024 Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region
144Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region
28,232Visual & Performing Arts Degrees Awarded
$26,982Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on majoring in visual & performing arts, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #10 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.
College Factual looked at 144 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 28,232 degrees in visual & performing arts during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Your choice of visual & performing arts school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Visual & Performing Arts School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.
If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat.
Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
Best Schools for Visual & Performing Arts in the Middle Atlantic Region
Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the visual & performing arts degree levels they offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
21 Top Middle Atlantic Region Schools in Visual & Performing Arts
It is hard to beat Columbia University in the City of New York if you wish to pursue a degree in visual & performing arts. Located in the city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Columbia is a great university overall.
There were about 358 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent data year. Those visual & performing arts students who get their degree from Columbia University in the City of New York make $8,145 more than the typical visual & performing arts grad.
It is hard to beat New York University if you wish to pursue a degree in visual & performing arts. Located in the city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #27 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means NYU is a great university overall.
There were roughly 1494 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at NYU in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the visual & performing arts major at New York University get $4,063 above the typical college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Any student pursuing a degree in visual & performing arts has to take a look at Carnegie Mellon University. Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #9 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Carnegie Mellon is a great university overall.
There were about 326 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at Carnegie Mellon in the most recent data year. Those visual & performing arts students who get their degree from Carnegie Mellon University receive $21,549 more than the average visual & performing arts student.
The Juilliard School is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in visual & performing arts. Located in the large city of New York, Juilliard is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
There were about 251 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at Juilliard in the most recent year we have data available. Those visual & performing arts students who get their degree from The Juilliard School receive $4,552 more than the typical visual & performing arts graduate.
Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #4 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.
There were about 114 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at UPenn 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 wages of $24,686.
American Musical and Dramatic Academy is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.
There were approximately 481 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at American Musical and Dramatic Academy in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, visual & performing arts degree recipients typically make about $18,417 in their early careers.
Johns Hopkins is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Baltimore. A Best Colleges rank of #23 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Johns Hopkins is a great university overall.
There were approximately 200.00000000000003 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at Johns Hopkins in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, visual & performing arts degree recipients usually make about $18,024 at the beginning of their careers.
Located in the large city of New York, FIT SUNY is a public school with a medium-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #85 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means FIT SUNY is a great school overall.
There were approximately 1590 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at FIT SUNY in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the visual & performing arts program make an average of $26,694 in their early career salary.
Located in the large city of Baltimore, MICA is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
There were roughly 542 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at MICA in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the visual & performing arts program at Maryland Institute College of Art earn $4,681 more than the typical college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
UMCP is a very large public university located in the large suburb of College Park. A Best Colleges rank of #42 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UMCP is a great university overall.
There were roughly 229 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at UMCP in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, visual & performing arts degree recipients generally make around $26,656 at the beginning of their careers.
New School University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York. This school ranks 15th out of 142 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were approximately 1206 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at New School University in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the visual & performing arts major at The New School make $5,802 more than the standard college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
Located in the midsize city of Rochester, University of Rochester is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 8th out of 142 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were approximately 282 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at University of Rochester in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the visual & performing arts program earn an average of $25,339 for their early career.
Lafayette is a small private not-for-profit college located in the suburb of Easton. This college ranks 9th out of 109 schools for overall quality in the state of Pennsylvania.
There were approximately 35 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at Lafayette in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the visual & performing arts degree program at Lafayette College make $11,691 more than the average graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
Located in the large city of Brooklyn, Pratt Institute is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.
There were about 879 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at Pratt Institute in the most recent year we have data available. Those visual & performing arts students who get their degree from Pratt Institute - Main earn $10,926 more than the average visual & performing arts grad.
Skidmore is a small private not-for-profit college located in the small suburb of Saratoga Springs. This college ranks 21st out of 142 colleges for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were roughly 73 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at Skidmore in the most recent data year. Visual & Performing Arts degree recipients from Skidmore College get an earnings boost of around $6,320 above the typical income of visual & performing arts majors.
GWU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Washington. A Best Colleges rank of #49 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means GWU is a great university overall.
There were approximately 159 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at GWU in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the visual & performing arts major at George Washington University make $13,915 more than the standard college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.
Located in the city of New York, The Graduate Center is a public school with a medium-sized student population. This school ranks 14th out of 142 colleges for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were roughly 86 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at The Graduate Center in the most recent year we have data available. Those visual & performing arts students who get their degree from The Graduate Center, CUNY receive $31,203 more than the standard visual & performing arts grad.
Syracuse is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Syracuse. This university ranks 12th out of 142 colleges for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were roughly 356 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at Syracuse in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the visual & performing arts degree program at Syracuse University earn $3,484 more than the standard college grad in this field shortly after graduation.
Located in the large city of Philadelphia, Temple is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 11th out of 109 colleges for overall quality in the state of Pennsylvania.
There were approximately 617 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at Temple in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the visual & performing arts program report average early career earnings of $27,075.
Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, Pitt is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #79 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Pitt is a great university overall.
There were roughly 113 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at Pitt in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the visual & performing arts program earn around $24,514 in their early career salary.
The American University is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Washington. This university ranks 3rd out of 8 colleges for overall quality in the state of District of Columbia.
There were approximately 168 visual & performing arts students who graduated with this degree at The American University in the most recent data year. Those visual & performing arts students who get their degree from American University earn $10,945 more than the average visual & performing arts student.
Rest of the Top Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region
Additional Noteworthy Schools
Here are some additional great schools for Visual & Performing Arts students in the Middle Atlantic Region that almost earned our Best Visual & Performing Arts Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region award.
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.