Rankings by major · 828 schools scored

Best colleges for art & design

Every school we cover is scored 0–100 for art & design. The score weighs what graduates earn four years out against the same major nationally (25%), research spending in the field (20%, NSF), how many undergraduate courses the department lists (20%), the student body's test scores (20%) and the size of the program (15%, capped so size alone can't win). 80 and up is a standout program, 65+ strong, 45+ solid.

The top art & design schools: University of Southern California, University of Michigan–Ann Arbor, Carnegie Mellon University.

Top 100 colleges for art & design
Rank	School	Score (0–100)	Tier	Graduates per year in the major	Share of the class	Pay vs. national, same major	Acceptance rate
1	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	100	Standout	123	2%	1.70×	10%
2	University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	98	Standout	162	1.8%	1.48×	16%
3	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA	98	Standout	60	3.1%	2.43×	11%
4	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	97	Standout	120	1.3%	1.44×	42%
5	University of California, Davis Davis, CA	96	Standout	310	3.3%	1.25×	44%
6	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY	96	Standout	134	3.2%	1.49×	46%
7	Northeastern University Boston, MA	96	Standout	50	1.1%	1.93×	5%
8	Columbia University New York, NY	95	Standout	38	1.4%	–	5%
9	University of Maryland, College Park College Park, MD	95	Standout	81	0.9%	1.23×	45%
10	University of Washington Seattle, WA	95	Standout	177	1.8%	1.38×	39%
11	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	94	Standout	21	1.1%	–	4%
12	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	94	Standout	41	1.4%	1.84×	11%
13	Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA	94	Standout	44	1.1%	2.12×	13%
14	University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI	93	Standout	102	1%	1.21×	45%
15	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	93	Standout	22	0.9%	–	6%
16	Boston University Boston, MA	93	Standout	70	1.4%	1.39×	13%
17	Dartmouth College Hanover, NH	92	Standout	28	2%	1.52×	6%
18	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY	92	Standout	38	2.5%	1.93×	63%
19	University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	92	Standout	191	2%	1.16×	9%
20	Rhode Island School of Design Providence, RI	92	Standout	213	41.6%	1.31×	17%
21	Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA	92	Standout	130	1.7%	1.46×	55%
22	Brown University Providence, RI	91	Standout	55	2.5%	1.35×	5%
23	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA	91	Standout	160	4.1%	1.47×	70%
24	Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MO	91	Standout	104	4.3%	1.50×	12%
25	Binghamton University–SUNY Binghamton, NY	91	Standout	52	1.4%	1.33×	37%
26	Yale University New Haven, CT	91	Standout	37	2.2%	–	5%
27	Arizona State University Tempe, AZ	91	Standout	370	2.5%	1.12×	88%
28	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX	90	Standout	34	1.7%	–	48%
29	University of Georgia Athens, GA	90	Standout	136	1.6%	1.18×	38%
30	Tulane University of Louisiana New Orleans, LA	90	Standout	58	2.1%	–	14%
31	CUNY–Hunter College New York, NY	90	Standout	94	2.6%	1.24×	54%
32	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	90	Standout	127	1.9%	1.17×	68%
33	The Ohio State University Columbus, OH	90	Standout	124	1.1%	1.20×	51%
34	University of Minnesota–Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	89	Standout	192	2.3%	1.22×	80%
35	Emory University Atlanta, GA	89	Standout	20	0.8%	–	10%
36	Chapman University Orange, CA	89	Standout	39	1.9%	1.73×	72%
37	The University of Texas–Austin Austin, TX	89	Standout	155	1.5%	1.19×	27%
38	The New School New York, NY	89	Standout	564	35.4%	1.21×	63%
39	University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA	89	Standout	59	1.1%	1.21×	17%
40	Purdue University–Main Campus West Lafayette, IN	88	Standout	81	0.9%	1.30×	50%
41	Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY	88	Standout	144	5.8%	1.15×	71%
42	New York University New York, NY	88	Standout	92	1.2%	1.09×	9%
43	Stanford University Stanford, CA	88	Standout	18	1.1%	–	4%
44	Williams College Williamstown, MA	88	Standout	38	4.9%	1.22×	9%
45	University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH	88	Standout	262	3.9%	1.47×	85%
46	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	87	Standout	138	1.4%	1.09×	20%
47	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	87	Standout	14	0.5%	–	7%
48	University of Delaware Newark, DE	87	Standout	64	1.3%	1.25×	71%
49	Wake Forest University Winston Salem, NC	87	Standout	27	1.8%	–	22%
50	San Diego State University San Diego, CA	87	Standout	250	2.8%	1.09×	37%
51	University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA	87	Standout	110	1.1%	1.14×	11%
52	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL	87	Standout	169	1.7%	1.08×	24%
53	Miami University–Oxford Oxford, OH	87	Standout	58	1.2%	1.42×	75%
54	Baylor University Waco, TX	86	Standout	48	1.3%	1.27×	52%
55	Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX	86	Standout	60	2.3%	1.51×	48%
56	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA	86	Standout	289	4.9%	1.17×	96%
57	Hamilton College Clinton, NY	86	Standout	28	4.4%	–	14%
58	Princeton University Princeton, NJ	86	Standout	16	1.2%	–	4%
59	Rutgers University–New Brunswick Piscataway, NJ	86	Standout	82	0.9%	1.18×	58%
60	Pomona College Claremont, CA	85	Standout	16	3.3%	–	7%
61	Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA	85	Standout	16	2.8%	–	7%
62	Iowa State University of Science and Technology Ames, IA	85	Standout	218	3.3%	1.16×	89%
63	Clemson University Clemson, SC	85	Standout	102	1.9%	1.34×	38%
64	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA	85	Standout	118	2.5%	1.20×	72%
65	Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA	85	Standout	53	3%	1.29×	45%
66	Indiana University–Bloomington Bloomington, IN	85	Standout	109	1.4%	1.09×	78%
67	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA	85	Standout	20	0.7%	–	16%
68	The University of Oklahoma Norman, OK	85	Standout	62	1.3%	1.18×	77%
69	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT	84	Standout	105	1.8%	1.11×	87%
70	Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY	84	Standout	21	2.7%	1.40×	19%
71	University of Vermont Burlington, VT	84	Standout	28	1.1%	1.18×	73%
72	California State University, Long Beach Long Beach, CA	84	Standout	546	6%	1.13×	45%
73	Wesleyan University Middletown, CT	84	Standout	42	3.5%	–	16%
74	Fordham University New York, NY	84	Standout	53	2.1%	1.34×	59%
75	University of Dayton Dayton, OH	84	Standout	28	1.3%	1.47×	65%
76	Amherst College Amherst, MA	83	Standout	14	1.8%	–	9%
77	Brandeis University Waltham, MA	83	Standout	16	1.2%	–	40%
78	Colgate University Hamilton, NY	83	Standout	16	1.7%	–	14%
79	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	83	Standout	46	0.8%	1.13×	54%
80	Wellesley College Wellesley, MA	83	Standout	18	2.5%	–	14%
81	University of Denver Denver, CO	83	Standout	36	2.3%	1.53×	85%
82	Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME	83	Standout	14	2.2%	–	7%
83	University of Kansas Lawrence, KS	83	Standout	110	2.5%	1.15×	93%
84	California Polytechnic State University–San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	83	Standout	56	1.1%	1.32×	30%
85	The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL	82	Standout	72	1%	1.13×	71%
86	University of California San Diego La Jolla, CA	82	Standout	66	0.7%	1.07×	29%
87	University of Miami Coral Gables, FL	82	Standout	42	1.2%	–	19%
88	Duke University Durham, NC	82	Standout	7	0.3%	–	5%
89	Skidmore College Saratoga Springs, NY	82	Standout	43	6.1%	1.19×	24%
90	The Pennsylvania State University–University Park University Park, PA	82	Standout	79	0.7%	1.04×	61%
91	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI	82	Standout	127	1.4%	1.16×	85%
92	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	82	Standout	47	1.3%	0.99×	5%
93	CUNY New York City College of Technology Brooklyn, NY	81	Standout	116	8.7%	1.16×	82%
94	Trinity College Hartford, CT	81	Standout	12	1.7%	–	30%
95	Colby College Waterville, ME	81	Standout	18	2.4%	–	7%
96	Middlebury College Middlebury, VT	81	Standout	14	1.6%	–	11%
97	Rice University Houston, TX	81	Standout	7	0.6%	–	8%
98	University of Central Florida Orlando, FL	81	Standout	140	0.9%	1.03×	43%
99	Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA	81	Standout	14	0.9%	–	48%
100	Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA	81	Standout	380	7.5%	1.15×	84%

728 more schools are on the full art & design ranking.

How this ranking works

Updated October 18, 2026. Sources: early-career pay for graduates of each program, by field of study (College Scorecard), graduates per year in the major (IPEDS), undergraduate courses listed in each department's current catalog, and the student body's test scores. Inputs that are missing for a school are dropped and the rest reweighted; programs with fewer than five graduates a year are capped at 30. Scores are relative to the other schools covered, from 0 to 100.

To cite: prefrosh.ai, "Best colleges for art & design," updated October 18, 2026, https://prefrosh.ai/majors/art-and-design. For a specific student's chances at these schools, use Chance me, which reads odds from the student's own high school's admissions chart.

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Best colleges for art & design

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