Top 70 Art Schools & Universities

The US News and World Report magazine puts out an annual survey of colleges, universities, graduate schools and specialty institutions that is the most widely respected survey of its type. One of the academic specialties the survey isolates on is art schools.  Most are departments within universities, many are design schools as well, and often they incorporate elements such as architecture and industrial design into their academic programs.  But fine arts remains at the heart of virtually all these academic organizations; here are seventy of the nation’s best art schools, colleges, universities and institutes.

1. Rhode Island School of Design has sixteen undergraduate degree options from painting and photography to multimedia and four fields of design.
2. Yale University School of Art offers single undergraduate major, but graduate programs with multiple disciplines.
3. School of the Art Institute of Chicago has undergraduate options that include a degree in Interior Architecture.
4. Cranbrook Academy of Art offers degrees in both 2D Design and 3D Design.
5. Maryland Institute College of Art offers a degree in Interaction Design and Art that combines technology with design principles.
6. Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts has eighteen undergraduate departments ranging from Theater to Fashion Design.
7. California Institute of the Arts offers comprehensive programs in both visual and performing arts.
8. Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts offers Architecture, Design, Art, Drama and Music.
9. UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture has six widely diverse departments.
10. Alfred University–New York State College of Ceramics has the finest MFA in Ceramics in the nation.   
11. Art Center College of Design offers undergraduate programs in both Transportation Design and Entertainment Design.
12. California College of the Arts has twenty one undergraduate majors in fine arts and design.         
13. Columbia University School of the Arts offers Film, Theater, Writing and Visual Arts.
14. Temple University Tyler School of Art has twelve departments covering the visual arts and art history.
15. Bard College Division of the Arts offers undergraduate options in visual and performing arts.      
16. Pratt Institute School of Art and Design has undergraduate degrees in Industrial Design, Film and many other options.
17. School of Visual Arts in New York offers a tremendous range of undergraduate fine art options
18. UC San Diego Department of Visual Arts offers a Studio major that touches on painting, drawing, sculpture, performance, installation, media and new genres.     
19. University of Texas College of Fine Arts includes a School of Music, Department of Theater and Dance, and several other disciplines.        
20. Washington University in St. Louis School of Design and Visual Arts includes undergraduate programs in architecture and several art disciplines.
21. CUNY–Hunter College has Departments in Music, Theater and Art.         
22. Parsons School of Design has five schools including one dedicated to Fashion.     
23. Ohio State University Department of Art recently opened an Art and Technology Studio available for several academic majors         
24. Otis College of Art and Design includes Fine Arts as just one of its Departments. 
25. Rochester Institute of Technology College of Imaging Arts and Sciences has six schools dedicated to various art disciplines.
26. UC Davis Department of Art and Art History offers a major in Technocultural Studies.
27. University of Illinois School of Architecture and the Arts includes Performing Arts in its undergraduate programs.
28.  University of Iowa School of Art and Art History offers many of the Visual Arts, Art History and Art Education.
29. University of Wisconsin Art Department offers degrees in Woodworking, Glass & Neon and Digital Modeling.
30. Arizona State University Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts has 27 undergraduate and graduate degree choices.
31. Indiana University School of Fine Arts has Studio Art and Art History divisions.
32. Massachusetts College of Art offers twenty two majors for fine artists and art students.   
33. New York University Department of Art and Art Professions has a graduate program in Art Therapy.     
34. Rutgers – Mason Gross School of the Arts offers programs in Dance, Music, Theater and Visual Arts.
35. San Francisco Art Institute has several fine arts programs and a liberal arts degree as well.
36. UC Berkeley Department of Art Practice includes undergraduate programs in Studio Art, Performance Art, and Digital Art.
37. Minneapolis College of Art and Design offers a BFA program with fourteen majors.
38. Tufts University/School of the Museum of Fine Arts has eight study tracks that include Performing Arts.
39. University of Georgia Lamar Dodd School of Art has a BFA program with areas of concentration that include Scientific Illustration and Fabric Design.                 
40. University of Michigan School of Art and Design has a BFA in Interarts Performance that is a joint venture of the Theater, Music and Art& Design Schools.
41. University of Southern California Roski School of Fine Arts offers a BFA degree and a BFA/Studio Arts degree.
42. University of Washington School of Art has Art, Art History and Design Divisions.         
43. University of the Arts in Philadelphia offers Drama, Ballet, Jazz Studies and Film as undergraduate options.                       
44. Herron School of Art & Design is Indiana University’s home for Fine Arts.           
45. Stanford University Department of Art and Art History  offers undergraduate programs designed to lead to more focused graduate work in an artistic medium.  
46. University of Arizona College of Fine Arts has Schools of Art, Music, Dance, Theater and Media Arts.
47. University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art & Planning wraps its School of Art with schools dedicated to urban aesthetics.           
48. University of Pennsylvania School of Design offers an MFA program but no undergraduate fine arts option.
49. Claremont Graduate University Art Department has a range of fine art options.
50. Cleveland Institute of Art offers eighteen majors including Biomedical Art.          
51. Cornell University Department of Art offers dual degrees including a BFA/BS in Engineering.    
52. Pennsylvania State University School of Visual Arts includes a Studio Art undergraduate program incorporated with a liberal arts curriculum.   
53. Syracuse University Department of Art & Music Histories is oriented more to the liberal arts focus than studio work.
54. University of Minnesota Department of Art offers a range of graduate programs in the visual arts.
55. University of New Mexico College of Fine Arts has graduate programs in both Music and Theater & Dance.           
56. University of Tennessee – Knoxville School of Art has a highly regarded BFA in Graphic Design.
57. Boston University College of Fine Arts includes Schools of Music, Visual Arts and Theatre.        
58. California State University – Long Beach Department of Art has two thousand students enrolled in fifteen degree programs.        
59. California State University – Los Angeles Department of Art has a Studio Arts program with focal areas in several of the Visual Arts.
60. Mills College Art Department offers both Studio Art and Art History at the undergraduate level.
61. Ohio University College of Fine Arts includes Schools of Art, Dance, Music, Theater, and Film.
62. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is a school within a museum with extensive BFA and MFA choices.
63. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute School of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences offers some remarkable arts programs including a Department of Electronic Arts.           
64. SUNY–Purchase College School of the Arts offers Dance, Theatre Arts& Film, and Music.
65. San Diego State University School of Art, Design and Art History has undergraduate programs in both Graphic Design and Multimedia.
66. Southern Illinois University School of Art and Design has a Communications Design major for undergraduates.         
67. UC Irvine Department of Studio Art offers an MFA program with strong emphasis on contemporary art.
68. UC Santa Barbara Department of Art            works closely with the Department of Media Arts housed elsewhere in the University.
69. University of Chicago Department of Visual Arts has an MFA program with concentrations in photography, painting, performance art, sculpture, and new media.           
70. University of Colorado Department of Art and Art History  has an Integrated Arts Program offering a multidisciplinary opportunity to graduate students.