Best Schools for Design and Applied Arts
Design and Applied Arts graduates earn a median of $53,153 within four years of graduating, ranking #172 out of 283 tracked majors — 15% below the median across all fields. There are 333 colleges nationwide with tracked earnings for this major, producing 18,678 recent graduates.
Where you study matters: Carnegie Mellon University graduates earn $138,588 while EDP University of Puerto Rico-Caguas graduates earn $21,626 — a $116,962 difference. Factors like location, employer networks, co-op programs, and curriculum focus drive this gap. Across all fields, though, which major you pick separates earnings more than which college does.
Early career salary growth is modest: Design and Applied Arts graduates see an average 5% increase between year 1 and year 2 post-graduation, reflecting career advancement and skill development in the first years after college.
Public vs Private: Design and Applied Arts
Public schools produce comparable or higher early earnings for Design and Applied Arts, often at lower tuition — making them strong value options for this major.
Design and Applied Arts by State
Also by state: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia
Top Design and Applied Arts Schools by Graduate Earnings
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA · Private
Lawrence Technological University
Southfield, MI · Private
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus
Atlanta, GA · Public
University of Washington-Seattle Campus
Seattle, WA · Public
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA · Private
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, NY · Private
Northeastern University
Boston, MA · Private
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN · Private
Chapman University
Orange, CA · Private
Art Center College of Design
Pasadena, CA · Private
University of Redlands
Redlands, CA · Private
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL · Public
Boston University
Boston, MA · Private
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg, VA · Public
University of Cincinnati-Main Campus
Cincinnati, OH · Public
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY · Private
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX · Public
Western Washington University
Bellingham, WA · Public
University of Denver
Denver, CO · Private
Washington State University
Pullman, WA · Public
The University of Tennessee-Knoxville
Knoxville, TN · Public
Laguna College of Art and Design
Laguna Beach, CA · Private
Seattle Pacific University
Seattle, WA · Private
Texas Christian University
Fort Worth, TX · Private
Wentworth Institute of Technology
Boston, MA · Private
Ohio State University-Main Campus
Columbus, OH · Public
Miami University-Oxford
Oxford, OH · Public
Washington University in St Louis
St. Louis, MO · Private
Rhode Island School of Design
Providence, RI · Private
University of Delaware
Newark, DE · Public
University of Dayton
Dayton, OH · Private
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Newark, NJ · Public
California State University-Long Beach
Long Beach, CA · Public
University of California-Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, CA · Public
Drexel University
Philadelphia, PA · Private
University of California-Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA · Public
Clemson University
Clemson, SC · Public
Marist University
Poughkeepsie, NY · Private
Colorado State University-Fort Collins
Fort Collins, CO · Public
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI · Public
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR · Public
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL · Public
University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus
Norman, OK · Public
University of Oregon
Eugene, OR · Public
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL · Public
University of Houston
Houston, TX · Public
Endicott College
Beverly, MA · Private
The College of Saint Rose
Albany, NY · Private
Utah State University
Logan, UT · Public
St. John's University-New York
Queens, NY · Private
Showing top 50 of 333 schools. View all or filter by state above.
Majors with Similar Earnings
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Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. Earnings are median 2 years after graduation for bachelor's degree holders, from the field-of-study file last updated June 2026. Institution-level figures elsewhere on the site come from the June 2026 release — Scorecard publishes the two separately.
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