Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Fine and Studio Arts

Schools ranked by payback period — how quickly you recoup your investment through higher earnings.

50

Schools Ranked

$25,651

Avg. Earnings

3.7 yrs

Best Payback

22,882

Graduates

How we calculate value: Payback = (4 years of net price) / (major earnings - $35k baseline). A 2-year payback means you recoup your investment in 2 years through higher earnings vs. not attending college.

#	School	Net Price/yr	Major Earnings	Payback
1	Cornell University Ithaca, NY · Private	$9,785	$45,696	3.7 yrs
2	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN · Private	$7,694	$42,682	4 yrs
3	Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC · Private	$10,228	$44,170	4.5 yrs
4	Williams College Williamstown, MA · Private	$5,576	$38,289	6.8 yrs
5	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA · Public	$17,340	$45,082	6.9 yrs
6	Thomas Jefferson University Philadelphia, PA · Private	$23,635	$43,798	10.7 yrs
7	Barnard College New York, NY · Private	$19,810	$41,789	11.7 yrs
8	University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA · Public	$16,019	$40,312	12.1 yrs
9	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA · Private	$12,020	$38,289	14.6 yrs
10	Marist University Poughkeepsie, NY · Private	$30,498	$40,697	21.4 yrs
11	Avila University Kansas City, MO · Private	$18,222	$38,289	22.2 yrs
12	Fordham University Bronx, NY · Private	$31,221	$39,369	28.6 yrs
13	Wellesley College Wellesley, MA · Private	$10,792	$36,312	32.9 yrs
14	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA · Private	$22,826	$37,208	41.4 yrs
15	Grand View University Des Moines, IA · Private	$20,148	$36,668	48.3 yrs
16	Pace University New York, NY · Private	$28,066	$37,208	50.8 yrs
17	The College of New Jersey Ewing, NJ · Public	$25,434	$36,938	52.5 yrs
18	University of Houston-Clear Lake Houston, TX · Public	$14,952	$36,134	52.7 yrs
19	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD · Public	$17,360	$36,048	66.3 yrs
20	Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA · Private	$37,292	$36,848	80.7 yrs
21	Brandeis University Waltham, MA · Private	$24,183	$36,141	84.8 yrs
22	Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY · Private	$17,403	$35,600	116 yrs
23	Hofstra University Hempstead, NY · Private	$33,635	$35,864	155.7 yrs
24	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA · Public	$19,216	$35,416	184.8 yrs
25	Tarleton State University Stephenville, TX · Public	$21,117	$35,416	203 yrs
26	Northeastern University Boston, MA · Private	$18,389	$35,330	222.9 yrs
27	West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA · Public	$19,085	$35,274	278.6 yrs
28	Bradley University Peoria, IL · Private	$23,286	$35,330	282.3 yrs
29	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX · Private	$29,892	$35,276	433.2 yrs
30	University of Wyoming Laramie, WY · Public	$9,394	$35,060	626.3 yrs
31	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI · Public	$10,481	$32,996	N/A
32	Connecticut College New London, CT · Private	$16,044	$32,925	N/A
33	Brown University Providence, RI · Private	$10,219	$32,925	N/A
34	Ramapo College of New Jersey Mahwah, NJ · Public	$22,026	$27,048	N/A
35	Binghamton University Vestal, NY · Public	$21,423	$28,960	N/A
36	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA · Public	$18,372	$30,409	N/A
37	University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA · Public	$24,139	$32,925	N/A
38	CUNY Hunter College New York, NY · Public	$6,908	$23,233	N/A
39	Miami University-Oxford Oxford, OH · Public	$23,513	$26,585	N/A
40	Manhattanville University Purchase, NY · Private	$18,227	$23,803	N/A
41	Howard University Washington, DC · Private	$43,093	$20,140	N/A
42	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA · Public	$8,393	$27,181	N/A
43	University of Washington-Bothell Campus Bothell, WA · Public	$9,439	$27,181	N/A
44	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA · Private	$21,526	$20,140	N/A
45	St Lawrence University Canton, NY · Private	$20,396	$26,353	N/A
46	Kenyon College Gambier, OH · Private	$20,727	$25,967	N/A
47	Skidmore College Saratoga Springs, NY · Private	$16,176	$34,704	N/A
48	University of Georgia Athens, GA · Public	$15,037	$27,015	N/A
49	University of Vermont Burlington, VT · Public	$17,585	$26,121	N/A
50	University of Massachusetts-Lowell Lowell, MA · Public	$17,113	$31,851	N/A

Top Earners in Fine and Studio Arts

See schools ranked by earnings alone, without considering cost.

Best Value Rankings

Explore best value colleges across all majors and categories.

Payback uses earnings by major from the College Scorecard's field-of-study file, last updated June 2026, against net price from the June 2026 release. Scorecard publishes the two separately, so they are different vintages.