by our College Data Analytics TeamCollege Factual reviewed 345 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of visual & performing arts. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 15,845 master's degrees in visual & performing arts during the 2020-2021 academic year.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
The visual & performing arts master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we include a school's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a combination of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for visual & performing arts students working on their master's degree.
The visual & performing arts school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Visual & Performing Arts Master's Degree Schools.
Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in visual & performing arts. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in visual & performing arts needs to check out Rice University. Located in the city of Houston, Rice is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Rice University
Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in visual & performing arts needs to check out New York University. NYU is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from New York University
Every student who is interested in a master's degree in visual & performing arts has to take a look at University of Southern California. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from University of Southern California
It's difficult to beat University of Notre Dame if you want to pursue a master's degree in visual & performing arts. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Notre Dame.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from University of Notre Dame
Any student who is interested in a master's degree in visual & performing arts needs to check out Duke University. Duke is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Durham.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Duke University
Yale is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of New Haven.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Yale University
Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Northwestern University
Columbia is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Columbia University in the City of New York
Carnegie Mellon is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Pittsburgh.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Carnegie Mellon University
Juilliard is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from The Juilliard School
UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from University of Pennsylvania
Located in the city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Johns Hopkins University
UCLA is a very large public university located in the city of Los Angeles.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from University of California - Los Angeles
Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Emory is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Atlanta.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Emory University
Michigan State is a fairly large public university located in the city of East Lansing.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Michigan State University
Located in the city of Boston, Boston U is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Boston University
Located in the remote town of Hanover, Dartmouth is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Dartmouth College
Located in the suburb of Medford, Tufts is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Tufts University
WUSTL is a large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Saint Louis.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Washington University in St Louis
TCU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Fort Worth.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Texas Christian University
Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from University of California - San Diego
Located in the midsize city of Orange, Chapman is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Chapman University
Located in the city of Bloomington, IU Bloomington is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from Indiana University - Bloomington
UT Austin is a fairly large public university located in the city of Austin.More information about a master’s in visual & performing arts from The University of Texas at Austin
This section shows the rest of the colleges awarded a Best Visual & Performing Arts Master's Degree Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 345 different United States visual & performing arts schools we analyzed.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | Savannah College of Art and Design | Savannah, GA |
| 51 | University of Central Florida | Orlando, FL |
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Visual & Performing Arts Master's Degree Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 52 | University of California - Davis | Davis, CA |
| 53 | Massachusetts College of Art and Design | Boston, MA |
| 54 | Temple University | Philadelphia, PA |
| 55 | University of Iowa | Iowa City, IA |
| 56 | Berklee College of Music | Boston, MA |
| 57 | Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus | Atlanta, GA |
| 58 | Mount Saint Mary’s University | Los Angeles, CA |
| 59 | George Washington University | Washington, DC |
| 60 | The New School | New York, NY |
| 61 | The University of Texas at Dallas | Richardson, TX |
| 62 | Virginia Tech | Blacksburg, VA |
| 63 | Manhattan School of Music | New York, NY |
| 64 | The Graduate Center, CUNY | New York, NY |
| 65 | University of Kentucky | Lexington, KY |
| 66 | University of Cincinnati - Main Campus | Cincinnati, OH |
| 67 | University of Washington - Seattle Campus | Seattle, WA |
| 68 | Syracuse University | Syracuse, NY |
| 69 | University of Georgia | Athens, GA |
View the Best Visual & Performing Arts Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Music | 5,778 |
| Fine & Studio Arts | 2,984 |
| Design & Applied Arts | 1,931 |
| Drama & Theater Arts | 1,611 |
| Film, Video & Photographic Arts | 1,610 |
| Arts & Media Management | 1,115 |
| General Visual & Performing Arts | 343 |
| Dance | 245 |
| Other Visual Art | 215 |
| Crafts, Folk Art & Artisanry | 13 |
