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Best Colleges for Fine & Studio Arts

50 Fine & Studio Arts programs ranked by real graduate earnings, debt, and completion — from the College Scorecard Field-of-Study data.

⚡Quick answer

For Fine & Studio Arts, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (Michigan) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $66,846. Rankings reflect earnings, debt, and completion — not reputation or cost — across 50 programs with published outcome data.

#	School	Credential	Median earnings	Median debt	Completers	Score
1	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	Bachelor's Degree	$66,846	$18,767	153	95.1
2	CUNY Hunter College New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$56,160	$10,300	90	94.4
3	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$72,428	$19,750	69	93.5
4	Dartmouth College Hanover, NH	Bachelor's Degree	$68,523	$13,663	24	93.4
5	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	Bachelor's Degree	$53,805	$13,000	141	92.8
6	Eastern Illinois University Charleston, IL	Master's Degree	$58,301	$14,627	48	92.5
7	Brown University Providence, RI	Bachelor's Degree	$60,985	$17,300	51	92.4
8	Binghamton University Vestal, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$60,299	$17,750	54	91.9
9	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$59,721	$17,886	54	91.6
10	Williams College Williamstown, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$55,012	$11,850	37	91
11	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD	Bachelor's Degree	$55,713	$19,417	92	90.2
12	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$51,699	$12,464	94	89.7
13	Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$63,418	$18,985	24	89.6
14	University of North Carolina Wilmington Wilmington, NC	Master's Degree	$99,698	$20,500	—	89.3
15	University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$54,579	$19,500	72	88.7
16	Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ	Master's Degree	$66,086	$20,450	16	87.1
17	Scottsdale Community College Scottsdale, AZ	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$49,440	$8,000	258	86.8
18	Illinois State University Normal, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$51,386	$17,750	90	86.7
19	Skidmore College Saratoga Springs, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$53,602	$18,500	42	86.7
20	Rio Salado College Tempe, AZ	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$58,091	—	307	86.3
21	Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$58,468	$22,375	47	86.1
22	Kenyon College Gambier, OH	Bachelor's Degree	$53,620	$15,500	23	86.1
23	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$54,093	$22,125	120	86.1
24	CUNY Lehman College Bronx, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$50,334	$10,065	48	85.8
25	San Jose State University San Jose, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$56,424	—	197	85.6
26	Connecticut College New London, CT	Bachelor's Degree	$61,321	$21,500	22	85.3
27	University of Georgia Athens, GA	Bachelor's Degree	$53,300	$21,500	125	85.1
28	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	Bachelor's Degree	$83,742	—	23	84.7
29	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$66,761	—	—	84.2
30	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$53,726	$21,281	33	83.7
31	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$62,394	—	27	83.6
32	University of Washington-Bothell Campus Bothell, WA	Bachelor's Degree	$53,805	$13,000	0	83.4
33	University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$57,705	$22,727	28	83.3
34	West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$57,470	—	46	83.3
35	Fordham University Bronx, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$60,515	$25,250	57	83.1
36	Oklahoma State University-Main Campus Stillwater, OK	Bachelor's Degree	$52,405	$21,111	46	82.9
37	Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$61,144	—	24	82.8
38	Towson University Towson, MD	Bachelor's Degree	$48,238	$16,750	137	82.6
39	Wellesley College Wellesley, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$63,391	—	19	82.5
40	Marist College Poughkeepsie, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$55,296	$23,437	37	82.5
41	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	Bachelor's Degree	$48,684	$16,750	72	82.4
42	University of Missouri-Columbia Columbia, MO	Bachelor's Degree	$51,254	$19,500	30	81.9
43	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$58,652	$26,000	59	81.7
44	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Master's Degree	$62,398	—	16	81.6
45	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$48,506	$14,833	42	81.6
46	Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ	Bachelor's Degree	$52,450	$22,500	48	81.2
47	University of Vermont Burlington, VT	Bachelor's Degree	$53,191	$20,937	22	81.2
48	San Diego City College San Diego, CA	Associate's Degree	$71,302	—	9	81
49	Utah State University Logan, UT	Bachelor's Degree	$48,180	$17,125	61	80.8
50	Rutgers University-Camden Camden, NJ	Bachelor's Degree	$52,450	$22,500	39	80.6

🔍 Filter Fine & Studio Arts by state & degree level →

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Hidden Gems for Fine & Studio Arts

Lower-profile schools with a genuinely strong outcome score for Fine & Studio Arts — the famous brand names and mega-flagships are deliberately filtered out.

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	Eastern Illinois University Charleston, IL Strong Fine & Studio Arts outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$58,301	65%	92.5
2	University of North Carolina Wilmington Wilmington, NC Strong Fine & Studio Arts outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$99,698	64%	89.3
3	Scottsdale Community College Scottsdale, AZ Strong Fine & Studio Arts outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$49,440	—	86.8
4	Rio Salado College Tempe, AZ Strong Fine & Studio Arts outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$58,091	—	86.3
5	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX Strong Fine & Studio Arts outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$62,394	63%	83.6
6	University of Washington-Bothell Campus Bothell, WA Strong Fine & Studio Arts outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$53,805	91%	83.4
7	West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA Strong Fine & Studio Arts outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$57,470	78%	83.3
8	University of Vermont Burlington, VT Strong Fine & Studio Arts outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$53,191	65%	81.2
9	San Diego City College San Diego, CA Strong Fine & Studio Arts outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$71,302	—	81
10	Rutgers University-Camden Camden, NJ Strong Fine & Studio Arts outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$52,450	66%	80.6
11	University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Denver, CO Strong Fine & Studio Arts outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$49,842	75%	80.2
12	Rutgers University-Newark Newark, NJ Strong Fine & Studio Arts outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$52,450	71%	79.4

Hidden Gems use the same College Scorecard outcome score, then drop the pool’s most-selective brands (bottom-quartile admit rate) and largest campuses (top-quartile enrollment). Schools that don’t report admit rate or enrollment are not dropped by that guard.

How we ranked this

Programs are scored 0–100 within the Fine & Studio Arts field (CIP 50.07) using three College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (weighted 70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, inverted so lower debt scores higher), and completer count (10%, log-scaled). Each input is percentile-ranked against the other Fine & Studio Arts programs, so the score is robust to outliers and comparable across schools. Programs with no published earnings are excluded — never given a fabricated number. This is the same engine that powers our interactive Major Rankings. Minimum 5 scorable programs required to publish.

Frequently asked questions

Which college has the best Fine & Studio Arts program?+

By our outcome score, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (Michigan) ranks #1 for Fine & Studio Arts, with median graduate earnings of $66,846.

How are these Fine & Studio Arts programs ranked?+

Each program gets a 0–100 outcome score from three real College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, lower is better), and completer count (10%). Programs are compared within the major so the score reflects the best schools for this field specifically.

Where does the earnings and debt data come from?+

The U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard Field-of-Study file, which publishes median earnings and median debt by institution and major (4-digit CIP). Figures are post-graduation medians; programs without published earnings are not scored and are omitted from this ranking.

Can I filter Fine & Studio Arts programs by state or degree level?+

Yes. This page shows the national top programs; use the interactive Major Rankings tool to filter the same data by state, and by credential level (bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral).

Keep exploring

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Data sources: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (Field of Study) · IPEDS Completions. Figures are the most recent values published in each federal dataset; cells with no published value are shown as “—” and never estimated. CertiHomes Education does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.