by our College Data Analytics Team
If you’re a veteran, service member, or military-affiliated student looking to study costume design, you’ve come to the right place. This ranking highlights 6 colleges that serve veteran costume design students especially well, using our 2026 methodology.
This ranking is based on the factors that matter most to veteran and military-affiliated students: affordability and veteran financial benefits (including GI Bill and Yellow Ribbon support), academic quality, on-campus veteran resources and support services, veteran-friendly policies, and the size of the veteran student community. So you can compare your options, College Factual reviewed colleges nationwide, drawing primarily on U.S. Department of Education data (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Want to compare schools head to head? Check out our College Combat to build custom comparisons on the factors you care about most.
Explore the best costume design colleges for veterans at a specific degree level:
Here are the top-ranked costume design colleges for veterans:
No school served veteran costume design students better than Carnegie Mellon University this year. The school's overall veterans score is 77.1 out of 100. Veteran affordability (GI Bill benefits, tuition support) scores 42.5, with a veteran-resources score of 66.7. Read more about costume design at Carnegie Mellon University
Academy of Art University is a great choice for veterans pursuing costume design, landing the #2 spot this year. Academy of Art University scores 76.5 out of 100 for veteran support overall. Veteran affordability (GI Bill benefits, tuition support) scores 96.8, and veteran resources 66.7. Read more about costume design at Academy of Art University
Webster University came in at #3 on our 2026 list of the best costume design colleges for veterans. It scores 76.4 out of 100 for serving veteran and military students. Its affordability for veterans scores 88.2, with a veteran-resources score of 66.7. More about the costume design program at Webster University
Stephens College is a great choice for veterans pursuing costume design, landing the #4 spot this year. It scores 62.0 out of 100 for serving veteran and military students. Veteran affordability (GI Bill benefits, tuition support) scores 96.2, alongside a 33.3 veteran-support score. See the full costume design report for Stephens College
A rank of #5 makes California Institute of the Arts one of the top costume design colleges for veteran students. California Institute of the Arts scores 57.5 out of 100 for veteran support overall. Veteran affordability (GI Bill benefits, tuition support) scores 47.8, with a veteran-resources score of 33.3.
More about the costume design program at California Institute of the Arts
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Bennington College landed the #6 spot for veterans pursuing costume design. It scores 45.1 out of 100 for serving veteran and military students. Veteran affordability (GI Bill benefits, tuition support) scores 42.0, alongside a 0.0 veteran-support score. More about the costume design program at Bennington College
*These averages are for the top 25 ranked colleges only.
This ranking is based on the factors that matter most to veteran and military-affiliated students studying costume design: affordability and veteran financial benefits (GI Bill, Yellow Ribbon), academic quality, on-campus veteran resources and support services, veteran-friendly policies, and the size of the veteran student community.
These rankings are produced by College Factual, 2026 edition.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.
