2026 Best Value Painting Schools in Virginia

[Painting](/majors/visual-and-performing-arts/fine-and-studio-arts/painting/) degree programs vary widely in price and payoff across the country. A high-value program keeps cost low while graduates go on to earn well.
For its 2026 best-value ranking, College Factual looked at 1 schools to find the best return on investment for painting students.
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2026 Best Value Painting Schools in Virginia
Below are the schools that deliver the strongest value in painting, balancing cost against outcomes.
Best Value Painting Schools
Our analysis ranked Virginia Commonwealth University the best value for a degree in painting in Virginia. Virginia Commonwealth University is a very large public school located in the city of Richmond. Expect in-state tuition and fees of around $16,720, while out-of-state students pay about $39,884. Students borrow a median of $23,374 to complete the painting program here. Soon after graduation, painting degree recipients from Virginia Commonwealth University generally make around $20,934. That is a strong return on a $23,374 median debt. The acceptance rate is 93%.
Notes and References
The ranking above is published by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. The methodology weighs the cost of a degree against the earnings graduates go on to achieve, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Best Value · 1 school evaluated.
*Averages shown above reflect the top 1 ranked schools only.
- 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 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.
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