Best degree programs for Designers, All Other, ranked by enrollment
3 college programs and 328 schools train Designers, All Other. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $64,950 median wage, 9,480 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
3 college programs at 328 schools train designers, all other, graduating 11,307 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Design and Visual Communications, General. The job pays a median of $64,950 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About designers, all other
All designers not listed separately.
A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or experiences can be called a designer.
Read more on Wikipedia →Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
3 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 50.0401 | 6,709 | 59.3% | 249 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 2 | CIP 50.0410 | 3,166 | 28.0% | 68 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 3 | CIP 50.0404 | 1,432 | 12.7% | 64 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
Top 50 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utah Valley University Orem, UT Public · 1 feeder programs | 1,008 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 45% | — | — |
| 2 | Savannah College of Art and Design Savannah, GA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 576 | Illustration | 69% | $44,902 | 83% |
| 3 | School of Visual Arts New York, NY Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 288 | Illustration | 76% | $58,518 | 93% |
| 4 | University of California - Davis Davis, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 277 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 86% | — | 42% |
| 5 | Fashion Institute of Technology New York, NY Public · 2 feeder programs | 251 | Illustration | 81% | — | 60% |
| 6 | Ivy Tech Community College Indianapolis, IN Public · 1 feeder programs | 239 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 40% | — | — |
| 7 | The New School New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 224 | Industrial and Product Design | 69% | $54,185 | 63% |
| 8 | Full Sail University Winter Park, FL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 175 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 44% | $32,163 | — |
| 9 | Chattahoochee Technical College Marietta, GA Public · 1 feeder programs | 167 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 38% | — | — |
| 10 | Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA Public · 2 feeder programs | 156 | Illustration | 63% | — | 93% |
| 11 | Art Center College of Design Pasadena, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 141 | Illustration | 79% | $48,578 | 75% |
| 12 | Pratt Institute - Main Brooklyn, NY Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 139 | Industrial and Product Design | 74% | $49,088 | 73% |
| 13 | Liberty University Lynchburg, VA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 136 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 65% | $28,911 | 99% |
| 14 | Dallas College Dallas, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 134 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 32% | — | — |
| 15 | Maryland Institute College of Art Baltimore, MD Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 134 | Illustration | 72% | $37,659 | 77% |
| 16 | Rhode Island School of Design Providence, RI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 131 | Illustration | 89% | $41,764 | 19% |
| 17 | Ringling College of Art and Design Sarasota, FL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 131 | Illustration | 72% | $54,693 | 70% |
| 18 | Columbus State Community College Columbus, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 118 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 28% | — | — |
| 19 | San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 116 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 50% | — | 96% |
| 20 | Clemson University Clemson, SC Public · 1 feeder programs | 104 | Industrial and Product Design | 87% | — | 38% |
| 21 | Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design Milwaukee, WI Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 102 | Illustration | 67% | $26,078 | 61% |
| 22 | Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 100 | Industrial and Product Design | 70% | $28,133 | 67% |
| 23 | Texas State University San Marcos, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 98 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 55% | — | 89% |
| 24 | Austin Community College District Austin, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 94 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 20% | — | — |
| 25 | Kent State University at Kent Kent, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 93 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 64% | — | 86% |
| 26 | Massachusetts College of Art and Design Boston, MA Public · 2 feeder programs | 92 | Illustration | 69% | — | 76% |
| 27 | Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design Lakewood, CO Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 90 | Illustration | 32% | $28,500 | — |
| 28 | Auburn University Auburn, AL Public · 2 feeder programs | 89 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 82% | — | 46% |
| 29 | University of Kansas Lawrence, KS Public · 1 feeder programs | 87 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 69% | — | 93% |
| 30 | California State University - Fullerton Fullerton, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 80 | Industrial and Product Design | 70% | — | 91% |
| 31 | Minneapolis Community and Technical College Minneapolis, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 79 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 20% | — | — |
| 32 | Academy of Art University San Francisco, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 78 | Illustration | 34% | $40,294 | — |
| 33 | Syracuse University Syracuse, NY Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 78 | Illustration | 84% | $28,851 | 46% |
| 34 | California College of the Arts San Francisco, CA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 76 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 61% | $40,041 | 91% |
| 35 | University of North Texas Denton, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 74 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 61% | — | 72% |
| 36 | University of Cincinnati - Main Campus Cincinnati, OH Public · 1 feeder programs | 72 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 75% | — | 85% |
| 37 | The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 71 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 89% | — | 27% |
| 38 | Columbus College of Art & Design Columbus, OH Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 70 | Illustration | 56% | $30,330 | 68% |
| 39 | CUNY New York City College of Technology Brooklyn, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 70 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 21% | — | 80% |
| 40 | Miami Ad School - New York Astoria, NY Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 69 | Design and Visual Communications, General | — | — | — |
| 41 | Atlanta Technical College Atlanta, GA Public · 1 feeder programs | 66 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 49% | — | — |
| 42 | University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT Public · 2 feeder programs | 65 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 65% | — | 86% |
| 43 | Augusta Technical College Augusta, GA Public · 1 feeder programs | 64 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 31% | — | — |
| 44 | SUNY Adirondack Queensbury, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 59 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 37% | — | — |
| 45 | North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC Public · 2 feeder programs | 58 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 85% | — | 42% |
| 46 | Columbia College Chicago Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 57 | Illustration | 52% | $28,087 | 89% |
| 47 | University of Oklahoma - Norman Campus Norman, OK Public · 1 feeder programs | 56 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 75% | — | 77% |
| 48 | Minneapolis College of Art and Design Minneapolis, MN Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 55 | Illustration | 51% | $24,998 | 48% |
| 49 | San Antonio College San Antonio, TX Public · 1 feeder programs | 55 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 26% | — | — |
| 50 | Purdue University - Main Campus West Lafayette, IN Public · 2 feeder programs | 54 | Design and Visual Communications, General | 83% | — | 50% |
What designers, all other earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $86,030 | 1,050 | 1.78× | 23 | 1,447 |
| Utah | $55,920 | — | — | 7 | 1,257 |
| California | $65,420 | 3,110 | 2.80× | 24 | 1,098 |
| Georgia | $58,560 | 810 | 2.72× | 12 | 1,044 |
| Texas | $41,590 | — | — | 16 | 669 |
| Ohio | $38,430 | — | — | 17 | 603 |
| Virginia | $60,000 | 50 | 0.19× | 16 | 503 |
| Indiana | $66,580 | 70 | 0.38× | 13 | 398 |
| Florida | $65,510 | 440 | 0.73× | 7 | 390 |
| Pennsylvania | $72,760 | — | — | 23 | 274 |
| Washington | $57,510 | 350 | 1.63× | 12 | 270 |
| Maryland | $60,910 | 260 | 1.54× | 6 | 237 |
| Illinois | $77,460 | 30 | 0.09× | 13 | 205 |
| South Carolina | $83,980 | 60 | 0.40× | 8 | 181 |
| Missouri | $48,320 | 120 | 0.66× | 6 | 167 |
| Coloradomoderate | $65,630 | 230 | 1.30× | 4 | 143 |
| New Jersey | $59,470 | 550 | 2.11× | 8 | 143 |
| Michigan | — | 150 | 0.57× | 9 | 120 |
| Oregon | $61,070 | 280 | 2.30× | 7 | 92 |
| North Carolinalimited | $51,740 | 120 | 0.40× | 2 | 86 |
| Iowamoderate | — | 70 | 0.76× | 4 | 82 |
| Louisiana | $57,020 | 250 | 2.12× | 5 | 82 |
| Arkansasmoderate | $44,470 | 40 | 0.55× | 3 | 56 |
| Tennesseemoderate | $72,450 | 280 | 1.40× | 3 | 46 |
| Nevadamoderate | $75,490 | — | — | 3 | 20 |
| New Hampshirelimited | $94,660 | — | — | 2 | 11 |
| Montanalimited | $42,000 | 60 | 2.06× | 1 | 2 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
How to get in
How to become a Designer, All Other
- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 3 majors mapped to Designers, All Other3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 50.0401Design and Visual Communications, General
- 50.0404Industrial and Product Design
- 50.0410Illustration
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Designer, All Other?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Design and Visual Communications, General, which awarded 6,709 degrees in 2024-25, 59.3% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Designer, All Other?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Design and Applied Arts. Together they graduate about 11,307 people a year.
How much do designers, all other earn?+
The median is $64,950 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $43,030 at the 10th percentile to $129,110 at the 90th. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for designers, all other growing?+
BLS projects a +2.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 2,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
328 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 3 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
Do you need training or experience beyond a degree?+
BLS lists 'None' for related work experience and 'None' for on-the-job training typically needed to reach competency.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024-25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
Explore every U.S. college in one conversation
Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card