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

Design & Applied Arts is of the hottest bachelor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #27 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 7 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Wisconsin ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 422 bachelor's degrees in design & applied arts to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools List

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

The design bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on design & applied arts students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of design & applied arts students who choose to seek a bachelor's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for design & applied arts to pay back their student loans after receiving their bachelor's degree.
• 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 bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Design & Applied Arts Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Wisconsin list, to help you choose the best school for you.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

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

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts.

Top Wisconsin Schools for a Bachelor's in Design

1

Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design
Milwaukee, WI

129 Annual Graduates

$28,801 Median Starting Salary

$51,000 Median Student Debt

Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design is a good option for students pursuing a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. Located in the city of Milwaukee, MIAD is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Soon after graduation, design bachelor's recipients usually make an average of $28,801 at the beginning of their careers.

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

2

University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI

32 Annual Graduates

$49,780 Median Starting Salary

Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts needs to take a look at University of Wisconsin - Madison. Located in the large city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public university with a very large student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the design & applied arts program at University of Wisconsin - Madison make $13,155 more than the average graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from University of Wisconsin - Madison

3

University of Wisconsin - Stout
Menomonie, WI

146 Annual Graduates

$40,615 Median Starting Salary

University of Wisconsin - Stout is one of the best schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. UW - Stout is a moderately-sized public university located in the distant town of Menomonie.

Bachelor's recipients from the design & applied arts major at University of Wisconsin - Stout make $3,990 more than the average college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from University of Wisconsin - Stout

4

Carthage College
Kenosha, WI

12 Annual Graduates

$35,511 Median Starting Salary

Carthage College is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. Located in the city of Kenosha, Carthage is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the design program earn an average of $35,511 in their early career salary.

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

5

University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI

25 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Milwaukee, UWM is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

6

University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point
Stevens Point, WI

23 Annual Graduates

$41,243 Median Starting Salary

Located in the distant town of Stevens Point, UW - Stevens Point is a public university with a medium-sized student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the design & applied arts degree program at University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point earn $4,618 more than the average college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point

7

University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
Green Bay, WI

17 Annual Graduates

$32,991 Median Starting Salary

UW - Green Bay is a fairly large public university located in the city of Green Bay.

Soon after graduation, design bachelor's recipients usually earn about $32,991 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in design & applied arts from University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

Best Design & Applied Arts Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Design & Applied Arts Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Michigan	261	703
Ohio	252	1,074
Illinois	241	768
Indiana	235	289

View All Rankings >

Design & Applied Arts Related Rankings by Major

Design & Applied Arts is one of 10 different types of Visual & Performing Arts programs to choose from.

Design Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Graphic Design	134
Interior Design	91
Illustration	75
Visual Communications	43
Industrial Design	41
Game & Interactive Media Design	31
Fashion Design	4
Other Design & Applied Arts	3

Most Popular Majors Related to Design

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts	495
Music	309
Drama & Theater Arts	210
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	163
General Visual & Performing Arts	71
Dance	35
Arts & Media Management	9
Other Visual Art	8

Notes and References

• 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.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard). More about our data sources and methodologies.