If you’re thinking of pursuing an art degree in college, you may have heard the phrase “Creative Arts” somewhere in your research. Some colleges do offer undergraduate degrees in “Creative Arts,” but most of those schools aren’t particularly prestigious and many only offer them as two-year degrees. When we work with students, we encourage them to consider colleges that offer more specific degrees in the arts, and that have a strong name recognition as an impressive, prestigious, and good-value institution.
When it comes to studying the arts in college, you have a lot of options. There are art schools, of course, and a few of them are on this list, but there are also larger universities with dedicated art schools within them. In the middle, there are small and mid-sized liberal arts schools with amazing arts programs but neither the intense focus of an arts school nor the expansive resources of a larger university. All of these options have pros and cons, so it’s important to consider what you want most from your college experience academically, socially, and professionally.
Below are ten schools with a proven track record of not just offering a great college experience and a solid education, but also high rates of success for their grads in their chose creative fields.
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Rhode Island School of Design — Providence, Rhode Island
RISD is one of the leading arts schools in the world and offers a renowned education and training program for practical artists. RISD graduates go on to build careers as artists for whom an expression of their art is their primary form of income, which isn’t an easy feat in the art world. From apparel design to printmaking, interior design to glass, RISD students are able to dive deeply into their favorite mediums and expressions. Concentrations can be layered on top of a major such as “History, Philosophy and the Social Sciences (HPSS)” or “Nature-Culture-Sustainability Studies (NCSS).”
School of the Art Institute of Chicago — Chicago, Illinois
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago offers Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in a diverse array of fields including sound, sculpture, fashion, and interior architecture. Students can also add an emphasis in Art Education or Writing, and there are degree paths in Art History and Visual and Critical Studies, which is basically studying a subject in the context of art school. Instead of choosing a major, students craft an educational course toward a degree with the guidance of a hands-on community of instructors and advisors. If you’re worried that doing all art all the time might burn you out, 20% of the courses students take are in social and natural sciences or English.
UCLA Arts: School of the Arts and Architecture — Los Angeles, California
The Arts and Architecture school at UCLA boasts one of the top-ranked studio art programs in a public university nationally. Students can pursue BAs in Art, Design|Media Arts, Dance, and World Arts and Cultures. They also offer a BA in Architectural Studies, but it is not open to first years, so you’d have to transfer into it after your first year at ULCA Arts. The Visual and Performing Arts Education Program (VAPAE) is a multi-disciplinary program aimed at training the next generation of teaching artists, and students are taught how to inspire and train future artists.
Carnegie Mellon School of Art — Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
With only 200 students and a 9:1 student-teacher ratio, Carnegie Mellon’s School of Art offers a unique opportunity for students to study art intensely and at a high level within a larger university. Carnegie Mellon seeks students who are self-motivated, culturally-aware, ambitious, and engaged with multiple styles, mediums, or contexts. Students can choose a concentration or create a hybrid path, with options in all the fields you expect to see at an art school. All students take 60% art studio classes and 40% everything else, with Carnegie Mellon as your oyster. They also require courses in professional development to help you take your amazing art skills out into the professional world.
Bard College — Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
Bard College is a great example of a small liberal arts college with an arts program that packs a punch. The Division of the Arts offers programs in architecture, art history and visual culture, dance, film and electronic arts, music, photography, studio arts, and theater and performance. Each student works with a faculty adviser to plan a course of study that fulfills their creative and practical needs, and courses start broad and become increasingly niche and intimate as students progress. Outside of the formal classroom, education continues through Bard’s Fisher Center. Live Arts Bard attracts “groundbreaking professional artists who work along students to create unconventional projects” and is just one of many programs that have made Bard a hub of creative energy on the east coast.
New York University, Tisch School of the Arts — New York, New York
If you’re considering applying to NYU Tisch, you should expect the highest artistic and academic standards from applicants. The school offers an extremely diverse array of courses of study that are at the cutting edge of technology today. In the Institute of Performing Arts, you can study Dance and Drama, the Kanbar Institute of Film & Television offers courses in Film & Television, of course, but also Dramatic Writing and more. In the Emerging Media department, you can pursue Game Design and Recorded Music. Whichever department you find yourself most at home in, Tisch describes its community as one of “storytellers.”
Virginia Commonwealth University Arts — Richmond, Virginia
VCU Arts, the art school at Virginia Commonwealth University, is a powerhouse in a surprising package. With 16 departments and programs, VCU Arts offers opportunities for multi-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary applications, like working “with engineering students to reinvent transportation systems.” Because of its home in a large public research university, students have deep resources outside of the arts that you may not find at a smaller school. There are degrees in art education, Crafts and Material Studies, Fashion Merchandising, Kinetic Imaging, and Music including voice, jazz, and guitar. You can also study film, theatre, and sculpture, with tons of super specific niches. If you want to do something really specific, this may be your spot.
Pratt Institute — Brooklyn, New York
Pratt sees design as a force for good, and whereas some schools do everything, Pratt does just a few things exceptionally well. Students can study Fashion Design, Industrial Design, Interior Design, Communications Design (Graphic Design or Illustration), and that’s it. But that’s all you need when you’re learning from the best in your field — and among the students who will grow to become the new leaders. Outside of the classroom, students can take part in the Center for Art, Design, and Community Engagement K-12, increasing exposure to and experience in the arts for students across New York City. In Pratt’s Brooklyn home base, students are able to immerse themselves in the deep tradition of working artists in the borough.
Brandeis University — Waltham, Massachusetts
Creative arts have been foundational to Brandeis’ existence from literally day one of the university’s existence. The Division of the Arts at the college “is predicated on the belief that Brandeis must continue to distinguish itself as a vibrant and cutting-edge center for the arts,” and the annual Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts, founded by the famed conductor in 1952. Students can pursue majors in music, theater arts, fine arts, and also a really cool sounding one in “Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation”.
Vassar College — Poughkeepsie, New York
This small liberal arts school offers opportunities in dance, drama, film, music, and art but in the structure of a normal Liberal Arts education as compared to an arts school like RISD or Pratt. Vassar is ideal for students who know they want to study art in college, but aren’t sure if it’s their major or career path yet. The Creative Arts Across Disciplines (CAAD) program is an “experimental laboratory” built through collaboration between initiatives, programs, departments, and projects for “trying out new models of research, pedagogy, practice, and community engagement.”
Studying creative arts in college can be approached in many different ways, from going to an art school to taking art classes alongside a non-art major. If you’re an artist, the most important thing is to build a college list full of schools that offer what you love that will lead you toward where you want to be.
If you know where you want to go to college but aren’t sure how to get there, send us an email. We help students like you get into their perfect fit.