Where can I find the best graphic design schools?

Graph­ic design is the fastest grow­ing dis­ci­pline of visu­al arts, and schools are increas­ing­ly invest­ing in their graph­ic design pro­grams. There is a wide range of great graph­ic art schools around the Unit­ed States, but the best pro­gram will be the one that match­es the par­tic­u­lar expec­ta­tions of each indi­vid­ual appli­cant. Prospec­tive stu­dents should con­sid­er their pri­or­i­ties, whether they be:

• Career Advance­ment, if a graph­ic design degree qual­i­fies you for a pro­mo­tion or new job.
• Indus­try Net­work­ing, if you want to make con­nec­tions with­in the field of graph­ic design.
• Tech­ni­cal Afflu­ence, if you want to hone your skills with Adobe, Corel, or oth­er graph­ic design software.

Once you have con­sid­ered your edu­ca­tion­al pri­or­i­ties, the next step is to find the pro­gram that is the best match for you. For­tu­nate­ly, there are many nation­al rank­ings of graph­ic design pro­grams for you to ref­er­ence. You should be sure to check out our list of the Top 30 Best Bach­e­lor’s in Graph­ic Design, which takes into account:

• Cost per cred­it hour, to ensure that the school is offer­ing com­pet­i­tive pric­ing for their degrees.
• Stu­dent-to-teacher ratio, to ensure that stu­dents receive atten­tion from professors.
• Nation­al Accred­i­ta­tion, to ensure that the school is pro­vid­ing qual­i­ty edu­ca­tion­al expe­ri­ences that are rec­og­nized by employers.
• Degrees are offered, to ensure stu­dents can find the par­tic­u­lar pro­gram that best meets their aca­d­e­m­ic expectations.

Some of the graph­ic design schools that rank high­est based on our cri­te­ria include:

• Carnegie Mel­lon Uni­ver­si­ty: Com­ing in at num­ber one on our list, Carnegie Mel­lon is a pri­vate research uni­ver­si­ty based in Pitts­burgh, Penn­syl­va­nia that is renowned both for its com­put­er sci­ence and art pro­grams. The uni­ver­si­ty’s School of Design offers Bach­e­lor of Design (B.Des) degrees in three tracks: indus­tri­al, graph­ic, or physical/digital, as well as grad­u­ate graph­ic design degrees. Total tuition for the 2017–18 school year came out to $53,910, with 60% of stu­dents receiv­ing finan­cial aid.
• UCLA: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia Los Ange­les is a pub­lic research insti­tu­tion that offers a wide range of design degrees for stu­dents to choose from. The uni­ver­si­ty’s depart­ment of Design Media Arts offers mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary bach­e­lor’s degrees and mas­ter’s degrees (MFA) that pre­pare stu­dents to cre­ate engag­ing media. The uni­ver­si­ty’s School of Arts and Archi­tec­ture offers grad­u­ate degrees to stu­dents look­ing to take their design skills to the next lev­el. Tuition for the 2017–18 school year came out to $13,261 for in-state stu­dents and $41,275 for out-of-state students.
• Uni­ver­si­ty of Flori­da: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Flori­da’s School of Art and Art His­to­ry offers an under­grad­u­ate BFA in Graph­ic Design and a grad­u­ate MFA in Art with a con­cen­tra­tion in Graph­ic Design. The pro­grams are offered in-stu­dio and class­room envi­ron­ments where stu­dents fos­ter cre­ativ­i­ty and inno­va­tion through col­lab­o­ra­tion. The pro­grams at UF are a great deal, as tuition for the 2017–18 school year came out to $6,381 for in-state stu­dents, $28,659 for out-of-state stu­dents, and 94% of stu­dents received some form of finan­cial aid.

If any of the schools on our list of the Top 30 Best Bach­e­lor’s in Graph­ic Design inter­est you, be sure to vis­it their web­site to request more information.

Relat­ed:

25 Best Bachelor’s in Graph­ic Design

15 Best Online Bachelor’s in Graph­ic Design

10 Fastest Online Bachelor’s in Graph­ic Design

10 Most Afford­able Online Bachelor’s in Graph­ic Design

25 Best Bachelor’s in Mul­ti­me­dia Design

15 Best Online Bachelor’s in Mul­ti­me­dia Design

10 Fastest Online Bachelor’s in Mul­ti­me­dia Design

10 Most Afford­able Bachelor’s in Mul­ti­me­dia Design