ADBLOCK #102
College Factual  by our College Data Analytics Team
       Unbiased Factual Guarantee

2025 Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Washington

8 Colleges in Washington
311 Bachelor's Degrees
$40,096 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you pursue a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #27 most popular program in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

College Factual reviewed 8 schools in Washington to determine which ones were the best for bachelor's degree seekers in the field of design & applied arts. Combined, these schools handed out 311 bachelor's degrees in design & applied arts to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

ADBLOCK #159
DEBUG: Raw major_slug = "visual-and-performing-arts//design-and-applied-arts"
DEBUG: Initial offers_url = "https://www.collegefactual.com/majors/visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts/offers.json", major_slug = "visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts"
DEBUG: After cleaning major_slug = "visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts"
DEBUG: Before URL cleaning = "https://www.collegefactual.com/majors/visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts/offers.json"
DEBUG: After TrimSuffix = "https://www.collegefactual.com/majors/visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts/offers.json"
DEBUG: After HTTPS placeholder = "HTTPS_TEMP_PLACEHOLDERwww.collegefactual.com/majors/visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts/offers.json"
DEBUG: After slash cleaning = "HTTPS_TEMP_PLACEHOLDERwww.collegefactual.com/majors/visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts/offers.json"
DEBUG: After URL cleaning = "https://www.collegefactual.com/majors/visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts/offers.json"
DEBUG: offers_url = https://www.collegefactual.com/majors/visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts/offers.json
DEBUG: major_slug = "visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts"
DEBUG: offers_url is valid, proceeding to fetch data
DEBUG: offers_data.offers found, count = 7
DEBUG: Specific major detected (cip4 = 50.04), keeping min_relevance at 0.8
DEBUG: Starting relevance filtering - min_relevance = 0.8, max_relevance = 1
DEBUG: Checking offer "BA in Graphic Design & Media Arts" with relevance 0.9
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "BA in Graphic Design & Media Arts" ACCEPTED (relevance 0.9)
DEBUG: Checking offer "AA in Digital Photography" with relevance 0.8
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "AA in Digital Photography" ACCEPTED (relevance 0.8)
DEBUG: Checking offer "BA in Digital Photography" with relevance 0.8
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "BA in Digital Photography" ACCEPTED (relevance 0.8)
DEBUG: Checking offer "BA in Game Art & Development" with relevance 0.8
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "BA in Game Art & Development" ACCEPTED (relevance 0.8)
DEBUG: Checking offer "BA in Graphic Design & Media Arts - Web Design" with relevance 0.8
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "BA in Graphic Design & Media Arts - Web Design" ACCEPTED (relevance 0.8)
DEBUG: Checking offer "" with relevance 0.8
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "" ACCEPTED (relevance 0.8)
DEBUG: Checking offer "BS in Game Programming & Development" with relevance 0.5
DEBUG: ✗ Offer "BS in Game Programming & Development" REJECTED (relevance 0.5)
DEBUG: relevant_offers count = 6
DEBUG: relevant_offers > 0, checking for ESYOH offers
DEBUG: ESYOH filtering - found 0 ESYOH offers with relevance >= 0.8
DEBUG: esyoh_offers count = 0
DEBUG: No ESYOH offers, checking direct offers

Choosing a Great Design & Applied Arts School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Washington Your choice of design & applied arts for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. 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

The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we consider a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a host of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor's 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.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for design & applied arts students working on their bachelor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Design Rankings Other Ranking Categories

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Washington list to help you make the college decision.

In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.

DEBUG: Raw major_slug = "visual-and-performing-arts//design-and-applied-arts"
DEBUG: Initial offers_url = "https://www.collegefactual.com/majors/visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts/offers.json", major_slug = "visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts"
DEBUG: After cleaning major_slug = "visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts"
DEBUG: Before URL cleaning = "https://www.collegefactual.com/majors/visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts/offers.json"
DEBUG: After TrimSuffix = "https://www.collegefactual.com/majors/visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts/offers.json"
DEBUG: After HTTPS placeholder = "HTTPS_TEMP_PLACEHOLDERwww.collegefactual.com/majors/visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts/offers.json"
DEBUG: After slash cleaning = "HTTPS_TEMP_PLACEHOLDERwww.collegefactual.com/majors/visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts/offers.json"
DEBUG: After URL cleaning = "https://www.collegefactual.com/majors/visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts/offers.json"
DEBUG: offers_url = https://www.collegefactual.com/majors/visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts/offers.json
DEBUG: major_slug = "visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts"
DEBUG: offers_url is valid, proceeding to fetch data
DEBUG: offers_data.offers found, count = 7
DEBUG: Specific major detected (cip4 = 50.04), keeping min_relevance at 0.8
DEBUG: Starting relevance filtering - min_relevance = 0.8, max_relevance = 1
DEBUG: Checking offer "BA in Graphic Design & Media Arts" with relevance 0.9
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "BA in Graphic Design & Media Arts" ACCEPTED (relevance 0.9)
DEBUG: Checking offer "BA in Digital Photography" with relevance 0.8
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "BA in Digital Photography" ACCEPTED (relevance 0.8)
DEBUG: Checking offer "BA in Game Art & Development" with relevance 0.8
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "BA in Game Art & Development" ACCEPTED (relevance 0.8)
DEBUG: Checking offer "BA in Graphic Design & Media Arts - Web Design" with relevance 0.8
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "BA in Graphic Design & Media Arts - Web Design" ACCEPTED (relevance 0.8)
DEBUG: Checking offer "BS in Game Programming & Development" with relevance 0.5
DEBUG: ✗ Offer "BS in Game Programming & Development" REJECTED (relevance 0.5)
DEBUG: relevant_offers count = 4
DEBUG: relevant_offers > 0, checking for ESYOH offers
DEBUG: ESYOH filtering - found 0 ESYOH offers with relevance >= 0.8
DEBUG: esyoh_offers count = 0
DEBUG: No ESYOH offers, checking direct offers

ADBLOCK #171

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Design & Applied Arts in Washington

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts.

Top Washington Schools for a Bachelor's in Design

1

Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts has to check out University of Washington - Seattle Campus. UW Seattle is a fairly large public university located in the city of Seattle.

Those design & applied arts students who get their bachelor's degree from University of Washington - Seattle Campus make $23,353 more than the typical design grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from University of Washington - Seattle Campus

2

It is hard to beat Western Washington University if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. Located in the small city of Bellingham, WWU is a public university with a large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the design program report average early career income of $31,078.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Western Washington University

3

Seattle Pacific University is a good option for individuals interested in a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. Located in the large city of Seattle, SPU is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the design program state that they receive average early career income of $39,248.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Seattle Pacific University

4

Washington State University is a wonderful decision for individuals interested in a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. Wazzu is a very large public university located in the town of Pullman.

Bachelor's recipients from the design & applied arts program at Washington State University get $4,727 more than the typical graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Washington State University

5
Seattle U crest
Seattle University
Seattle, WA
25 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Seattle, Seattle U is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Seattle University

ADBLOCK #172
6
39 Annual Graduates

CWU is a medium-sized public university located in the town of Ellensburg.More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Central Washington University

7
BC crest
Bellevue College
Bellevue, WA

Located in the medium-sized city of Bellevue, BC is a public college with a large student population.

Design & Applied Arts bachelor's degree recipients from Bellevue College earn a boost of around $5,851 above the typical earnings of design & applied arts majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Bellevue College

8

NCAD is a fairly small private for-profit college located in the midsize city of Tacoma.

Soon after graduating, design bachelor's recipients usually make around $27,694 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from Northwest College of Art & Design

DEBUG: Raw major_slug = "visual-and-performing-arts//design-and-applied-arts"
DEBUG: Initial offers_url = "https://www.collegefactual.com/majors/visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts/offers.json", major_slug = "visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts"
DEBUG: After cleaning major_slug = "visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts"
DEBUG: Before URL cleaning = "https://www.collegefactual.com/majors/visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts/offers.json"
DEBUG: After TrimSuffix = "https://www.collegefactual.com/majors/visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts/offers.json"
DEBUG: After HTTPS placeholder = "HTTPS_TEMP_PLACEHOLDERwww.collegefactual.com/majors/visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts/offers.json"
DEBUG: After slash cleaning = "HTTPS_TEMP_PLACEHOLDERwww.collegefactual.com/majors/visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts/offers.json"
DEBUG: After URL cleaning = "https://www.collegefactual.com/majors/visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts/offers.json"
DEBUG: offers_url = https://www.collegefactual.com/majors/visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts/offers.json
DEBUG: major_slug = "visual-and-performing-arts/design-and-applied-arts"
DEBUG: offers_url is valid, proceeding to fetch data
DEBUG: offers_data.offers found, count = 7
DEBUG: Specific major detected (cip4 = 50.04), keeping min_relevance at 0.5
DEBUG: Starting relevance filtering - min_relevance = 0.5, max_relevance = 1
DEBUG: Checking offer "BA in Graphic Design & Media Arts - Web Design" with relevance 0.8
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "BA in Graphic Design & Media Arts - Web Design" ACCEPTED (relevance 0.8)
DEBUG: Checking offer "BS in Game Programming & Development" with relevance 0.5
DEBUG: ✓ Offer "BS in Game Programming & Development" ACCEPTED (relevance 0.5)
DEBUG: relevant_offers count = 2
DEBUG: relevant_offers > 0, checking for ESYOH offers
DEBUG: ESYOH filtering - found 0 ESYOH offers with relevance >= 0.5
DEBUG: esyoh_offers count = 0
DEBUG: No ESYOH offers, checking direct offers

Best Design & Applied Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Design & Applied Arts Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
California 262 2,446
Oregon 185 303
Nevada 129 61
Hawaii 112 10
ADBLOCK #173

View All Rankings >

One of 10 majors within the Visual & Performing Arts area of study, Design & Applied Arts has other similar majors worth exploring.

Design Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Visual Communications 124
Interior Design 62
Graphic Design 51
Industrial Design 34
Commercial & Advertising Art 25
Illustration 11
Fashion Design 3
Game & Interactive Media Design 1
ADBLOCK #174

Related Major Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts 338
Music 211
Drama & Theater Arts 170
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 164
Dance 45
Other Visual Art 17
General Visual & Performing Arts 7
Arts & Media Management 7

ADBLOCK #115

Notes and References

ADBLOCK #116

Popular Reports

College Rankings
Best by Location
Degree Guides by Major
Graduate Programs
ADBLOCK #613

Compare Your School Options