Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Visual and Performing Arts, General

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

50

Schools Ranked

$26,891

Avg. Earnings

2.5 yrs

Best Payback

2,350

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	University of Florida-Online Gainesville, FL · Public	$8,251	$48,041	2.5 yrs
2	University of Florida Gainesville, FL · Public	$8,394	$48,041	2.6 yrs
3	Rice University Houston, TX · Private	$6,152	$38,289	7.5 yrs
4	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI · Public	$17,606	$38,289	21.4 yrs
5	George Mason University Fairfax, VA · Public	$19,066	$37,980	25.6 yrs
6	Otis College of Art and Design Los Angeles, CA · Private	$44,125	$38,289	53.7 yrs
7	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA · Private	$22,826	$36,674	54.5 yrs
8	Champlain College Burlington, VT · Private	$32,288	$25,774	N/A
9	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX · Public	$16,134	$21,417	N/A
10	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ · Public	$15,561	$34,187	N/A
11	California State University-San Marcos San Marcos, CA · Public	$14,309	$22,917	N/A
12	University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Whitewater, WI · Public	$14,226	$28,443	N/A
13	SUNY Oneonta Oneonta, NY · Public	$18,271	$27,440	N/A
14	Bowling Green State University-Main Campus Bowling Green, OH · Public	$18,606	$21,052	N/A
15	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA · Public	$14,310	$18,771	N/A
16	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Altoona Altoona, PA · Public	$22,436	$27,536	N/A
17	Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus University Park, PA · Public	$27,137	$27,536	N/A
18	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Abington Abington, PA · Public	$20,421	$27,536	N/A
19	Pennsylvania State University-World Campus University Park, PA · Public	$19,223	$27,536	N/A
20	University of New Mexico-Main Campus Albuquerque, NM · Public	$16,644	$21,508	N/A
21	Longwood University Farmville, VA · Public	$17,384	$28,598	N/A
22	Southern Oregon University Ashland, OR · Public	$11,223	$21,312	N/A
23	Christopher Newport University Newport News, VA · Public	$21,165	$22,534	N/A
24	Temple University Philadelphia, PA · Public	$21,568	$21,703	N/A
25	Grand Canyon University Phoenix, AZ · For-Profit	$20,787	$25,194	N/A
26	University of Mary Washington Fredericksburg, VA · Public	$19,728	$22,578	N/A
27	State University of New York at New Paltz New Paltz, NY · Public	$19,151	$26,121	N/A
28	University of North Carolina Asheville Asheville, NC · Public	$12,644	$25,596	N/A
29	Stockton University Galloway, NJ · Public	$21,350	$22,917	N/A
30	Bennington College Bennington, VT · Private	$23,796	$17,950	N/A
31	SUNY at Purchase College Purchase, NY · Public	$18,347	$19,227	N/A
32	Worcester State University Worcester, MA · Public	$16,479	$32,925	N/A
33	Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS · Public	$18,449	$31,133	N/A
34	University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg, MS · Public	$14,959	$22,771	N/A
35	Rogers State University Claremore, OK · Public	$14,957	$25,194	N/A
36	The University of Tennessee-Martin Martin, TN · Public	$13,804	$25,194	N/A
37	The University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, TX · Public	$14,583	$27,874	N/A
38	University of Houston-Downtown Houston, TX · Public	$15,426	$29,685	N/A
39	University of Colorado Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, CO · Public	$15,342	$21,508	N/A
40	Wichita State University Wichita, KS · Public	$14,581	$21,234	N/A
41	Stetson University DeLand, FL · Private	$23,626	$26,896	N/A
42	Southeast Missouri State University Cape Girardeau, MO · Public	$13,157	$23,649	N/A
43	Jackson State University Jackson, MS · Public	$22,299	$22,989	N/A
44	Savannah State University Savannah, GA · Public	$12,528	$15,552	N/A
45	Kennesaw State University Kennesaw, GA · Public	$19,365	$32,925	N/A
46	Salem State University Salem, MA · Public	$18,141	$23,649	N/A
47	Long Island University Brookville, NY · Private	$24,775	$32,382	N/A
48	Fairleigh Dickinson University-Metropolitan Campus Teaneck, NJ · Private	$15,022	$30,771	N/A
49	Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham Campus Madison, NJ · Private	$20,940	$30,771	N/A
50	Boston University Boston, MA · Private	$18,458	$29,685	N/A

Top Earners in Visual and Performing Arts, General

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.