Majors

Best Colleges for Design, by Earnings

526 of the colleges we track award a bachelor's degree in Design, about 17,169 degrees a year. Across the 250 that report earnings, graduates make a median of $53,884 four years after finishing.

Rank	College	State	Median earnings, 4 years out	Degrees a year	Acceptance rate
1	Carnegie Mellon University	PA	$138,588	42	11.7%
2	Lawrence Technological University	MI	$99,444	10	55.9%
3	Georgia Institute of Technology	GA	$95,697	12	14.1%
4	University of Washington	WA	$89,193	36	39.1%
5	University of Southern California	CA	$89,022	67	9.8%
6	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	NY	$87,358	34	63.5%
7	Northeastern University	MA	$87,336	40	5.2%
8	University of Notre Dame	IN	$83,414	28	11.3%
9	Chapman University	CA	$78,121	26	65.4%
10	Art Center College of Design	CA	$76,093	245	74.5%
11	University of Redlands	CA	$75,374	20	82.7%
12	Florida State University	FL	$73,888	33	24.2%
13	Boston University	MA	$72,809	39	11.1%
14	Virginia Tech	VA	$72,213	72	54.8%
15	University of Cincinnati	OH	$71,605	167	85.3%
16	Syracuse University	NY	$71,527	101	45.9%
17	University of Texas at Austin	TX	$69,846	44	26.6%
18	Western Washington University	WA	$69,715	57	93.3%
19	University of Denver	CO	$69,251	17	77.8%
20	Washington State University	WA	$69,224	21	86.6%
21	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	TN	$69,047	12	41.6%
22	Laguna College of Art and Design	CA	$68,934	94	94.3%
23	Seattle Pacific University	WA	$68,547	34	83.4%
24	Texas Christian University	TX	$68,313	39	44.5%
25	Wentworth Institute of Technology	MA	$68,160	56	91.2%
26	Ohio State University	OH	$68,151	48	60.6%
27	Miami University-Oxford	OH	$67,981	17	75.4%
28	Rhode Island School of Design	RI	$67,771	91	18.7%
29	Washington University in St Louis	MO	$67,771	69	12.1%
30	University of Delaware	DE	$67,742	19	70.6%
31	University of Dayton	OH	$66,679	26	65.5%
32	New Jersey Institute of Technology	NJ	$66,488	16	65.1%
33	California State University-Long Beach	CA	$66,435	108	46.3%
34	University of California-Santa Cruz	CA	$66,333	132	65.8%
35	Drexel University	PA	$66,294	142	79.4%
36	University of California-Los Angeles	CA	$66,259	57	9%
37	Clemson University	SC	$66,150	79	38.3%
38	Marist University	NY	$66,010	44	56.5%
39	University of Wisconsin-Madison	WI	$65,874	32	45.2%
40	University of Arkansas	AR	$65,780	31	74.3%
41	University of Florida	FL	$65,656	54	24.2%
42	University of Oklahoma	OK	$65,646	36	76.6%
43	University of Oregon	OR	$65,573	38	88.3%
44	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	IL	$65,186	75	42.4%
45	University of Houston	TX	$64,612	48	73.9%
46	Endicott College	MA	$64,559	16	71.2%
47	St. John's University-New York	NY	$63,659	18	83.4%
48	Emmanuel College	MA	$63,616	15	75.7%
49	Baylor University	TX	$63,522	24	51.3%
50	University of Kentucky	KY	$62,966	25	92.9%
51	University of Minnesota	MN	$62,414	108	79.8%
52	University of California-Davis	CA	$62,209	240	41.8%
53	Woodbury University	CA	$62,092	36	81.7%
54	East Texas A&M University	TX	$61,748	13	92.2%
55	Franklin University	OH	$61,736	17
56	Metropolitan State University of Denver	CO	$61,654	33	98.8%
57	High Point University	NC	$61,635	76	75.3%
58	Illinois State University	IL	$61,628	31	88.2%
59	Auburn University	AL	$61,609	116	45.9%
60	Texas State University	TX	$61,539	114	89.3%
61	Southern Illinois University-Carbondale	IL	$61,493	4	86.9%
62	Quinnipiac University	CT	$61,419	36	72.2%
63	North Carolina State University	NC	$61,382	77	41.7%
64	College for Creative Studies	MI	$61,222	73	91.9%
65	Kansas State University	KS	$61,150	17	81.7%
66	Bradley University	IL	$60,888	48	76.8%
67	The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga	TN	$60,807	17	81.1%
68	Temple University	PA	$60,782	65	80.4%
69	Harding University	AR	$60,567	6	70.5%
70	The University of Alabama	AL	$60,546	43	76.6%
71	Oregon State University	OR	$60,434	65	77.3%
72	Oregon State University-Cascades Campus	OR	$60,434	1	63.1%
73	Suffolk University	MA	$60,159	20	82.3%
74	Loyola University Chicago	IL	$59,928	22	81.6%
75	Pratt Institute-Main	NY	$59,792	369	73.3%
76	Thomas Jefferson University	PA	$59,731	39	81%
77	San Francisco State University	CA	$59,678	178	96.4%
78	California State University-Northridge	CA	$59,676	3	93.5%
79	Arizona State University	AZ	$59,641	198	89.9%
80	Susquehanna University	PA	$59,551	16	81.4%
81	University of Kansas	KS	$59,441	56	93.5%
82	California College of the Arts	CA	$59,238	84	91.1%
83	University of Illinois Chicago	IL	$59,188	57	77.3%
84	Purdue University	IN	$58,917	60	49.9%
85	Drake University	IA	$58,834	10	63.9%
86	Western Michigan University	MI	$58,634	49	84.6%
87	Western Carolina University	NC	$58,467	23	81.8%
88	Belmont University	TN	$58,314	47	95.3%
89	Pennsylvania State University	PA	$58,105	34	60.6%
90	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Altoona	PA	$58,105	4	98.1%
91	University of North Texas	TX	$57,753	121	72.2%
92	Point Loma Nazarene University	CA	$57,740	14	83.7%
93	University of Wisconsin-Stout	WI	$57,718	146	87.7%
94	North Dakota State University-Main Campus	ND	$57,663	17	95%
95	Rutgers University-New Brunswick	NJ	$57,313	29	58.1%
96	East Carolina University	NC	$57,255	28	89.2%
97	Central Connecticut State University	CT	$57,214	42	73.3%
98	North Central College	IL	$57,192	14	77.3%
99	Sam Houston State University	TX	$57,019	26	90.3%
100	Oklahoma Christian University	OK	$56,958	31	96.5%

Showing the top 100 of 250 colleges that report earnings. 276 more colleges award this degree but have no earnings figure, usually because the program is small.

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Frequently asked questions

Which college has the highest-paid Design graduates?

Carnegie Mellon University ($138,588), Lawrence Technological University ($99,444), Georgia Institute of Technology ($95,697), University of Washington ($89,193), University of Southern California ($89,022) report the highest median earnings four years after graduation.

How much do Design majors make?

The median across 250 colleges is $53,884 four years after graduation. By college it runs from $22,763 to $138,588.

Which colleges have the biggest Design programs?

By bachelor's degrees awarded in a year: Savannah College of Art and Design (755), Southern New Hampshire University (662), The New School (496), Pratt Institute-Main (369), Virginia Commonwealth University (322).

Does a higher-earning program mean a better program?

Not on its own. Earnings reflect where graduates live, what jobs they take, and who enrolled in the first place, as well as the teaching. The figures cover only graduates who received federal financial aid, and small programs are left out, so a college missing from this list may still have a strong department.

Source: College Scorecard, Most Recent Data by Field of Study (U.S. Department of Education), 2026-06-10 release, federal program category "Design and Applied Arts". Earnings are medians for graduates who received federal financial aid, working and not enrolled, four years after a bachelor's degree.