Ranked #19 in popularity, design & applied arts is one of the most sought-after associate degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
College Factual reviewed 6 schools in Texas to determine which ones were the best for associate degree seekers in the field of design & applied arts. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 513 associate degrees in design & applied arts during the 2022-2023 academic year.
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Choosing a Great Design & Applied Arts School for Your Associate Degree
The design associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality design program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To take this into account we include a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a combination of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Average Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of associate graduates during the early years of their career. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their associate degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to design & applied arts students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - The number of design & applied arts students who choose to seek a associate degree at the school.
Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
Student Debt - How much debt design & applied arts students go into to obtain their associate degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized design & applied arts related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for design & applied arts students working on their associate degree.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Design & Applied Arts Associate Degree Schools in Texas ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
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Take the first step toward a career of visual expression and doing what you love with this online associate degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
Every student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in design & applied arts needs to check out Collin County Community College District. Located in the large suburb of McKinney, Collin County Community College District is a public college with a very large student population.
Associate recipients from the design & applied arts program at Collin County Community College District get $6,132 above the typical graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Any student who is interested in an associate degree in design & applied arts needs to look into El Centro College. Located in the large city of Dallas, El Centro College is a public college with a very large student population.
Design & Applied Arts associate degree recipients from El Centro College earn a boost of about $4,154 over the typical earnings of design & applied arts majors.
Austin Community College District is a great option for individuals interested in an associate degree in design & applied arts. Located in the large city of Austin, Austin Community College District is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Those design & applied arts students who get their associate degree from Austin Community College District receive $12,965 more than the standard design graduate.
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.
The design associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality design program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
