Ranked #27 in popularity, design & applied arts is one of the most sought-after bachelor's degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 24 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Design & Applied Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in the New England Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,764 bachelor's degrees in design & applied arts during the 2022-2023 academic year.
Translate your creative ideas through concept, design and digital media with a bachelor's in graphic design online from Southern New Hampshire University.
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.
Learn to create a striking portfolio and hone the skills you need to succeed in the world of professional photography with this online digital photography degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
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. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
Overall Quality Is a Must
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.
Average Early-Career Salaries
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their bachelor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your bachelor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
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.
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 the New England Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.
To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
DEBUG: Raw major_slug = "visual-and-performing-arts//design-and-applied-arts"
Translate your creative ideas through concept, design and digital media with a bachelor's in graphic design online from Southern New Hampshire University.
Learn to create a striking portfolio and hone the skills you need to succeed in the world of professional photography with this online digital photography degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
Get on the right path to the fast-paced, exciting world of video game art and design with this online bachelor's from Southern New Hampshire University.
Massachusetts College of Art and Design is one of the best schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. Located in the city of Boston, Massachusetts College of Art and Design is a public college with a small student population.
Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the design program earn an average of $24,706 in their early career salary.
It's difficult to beat Northeastern University if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. Northeastern is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Boston.
Design & Applied Arts bachelor's degree recipients from Northeastern University earn a boost of approximately $15,919 above the average income of design & applied arts graduates.
Rhode Island School of Design is one of the best schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. RISD is a small private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Providence.
Soon after graduation, design bachelor's recipients typically earn about $29,489 at the beginning of their careers.
Boston University is a good decision for individuals pursuing a bachelor's degree in design & applied arts. Boston U is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Boston.
Design & Applied Arts bachelor's degree recipients from Boston University get an earnings boost of approximately $15,446 above the average income of design & applied arts majors.
Located in the city of Boston, WIT is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Design & Applied Arts bachelor's degree recipients from Wentworth Institute of Technology earn a boost of around $16,791 above the average earnings of design & applied arts graduates.
Endicott is a small private not-for-profit college located in the large suburb of Beverly.
Design & Applied Arts bachelor's degree recipients from Endicott College receive an earnings boost of about $5,463 above the average income of design & applied arts majors.
Suffolk is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Boston.
Design & Applied Arts bachelor's degree recipients from Suffolk University receive an earnings boost of around $13,607 over the typical earnings of design & applied arts graduates.
Located in the large suburb of Hamden, Quinnipiac is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.
Bachelor's recipients from the design & applied arts major at Quinnipiac University get $2,076 more than the average college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.
Gain a solid grounding in your online web design classes and exercise your creative muscle with this specialized online bachelor's from Southern New Hampshire University.
Go beyond traditional software development to gain the technical expertise required to succeed in an exciting and competitive field with this online bachelor's from Southern New Hampshire University.
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 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. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
