Performing & Visual Arts
Conservatories, film schools, design studios, music production and gallery-based fine arts.
Ranked campuses teaching performing & visual arts
| # | Institution | City | Control | Students | Admitted | Tuition | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stanford | Stanford, CA | private | 17,500 | 3.9% | $62,000 | 96 |
| 2 | Yale | New Haven, CT | private | 14,700 | 3.7% | $59,000 | 94 |
| 3 | Northwestern | Evanston, IL | private | 22,500 | 7% | $62,000 | 86 |
| 4 | Brown | Providence, RI | private | 10,500 | — | $62,000 | 86 |
| 5 | UCLA | Los Angeles, CA | public | 46,500 | 9% | $13,500 / $35,500 | 84 |
| 6 | Juilliard | New York, NY | private | 800 | — | $55,000 | 84 |
| 7 | CMU | Pittsburgh, PA | private | 15,500 | 11.7% | $61,000 | 82 |
| 8 | NYU | New York, NY | private | 53,000 | 13% | $60,000 | 80 |
| 9 | Curtis | Philadelphia, PA | private | 160 | — | $0 | 78 |
| 10 | USC | Los Angeles, CA | private | 49,500 | 10% | $62,000 | 77 |
| 11 | Vanderbilt | Nashville, TN | private | 13,500 | 5% | $61,000 | 74 |
| 12 | Oberlin | Oberlin, OH | private | 2,800 | — | $57,000 | 74 |
Doctoral programs in this field
15 indexed campuses award research doctorates here. Funding normally arrives through assistantships tied to faculty grants.
Stanford University
Stanford, CA · private · doctorate
Silicon Valley parent institution, combining a large research portfolio with an entrepreneurship culture that feeds straight into the Bay Area economy.
Yale University
New Haven, CT · private · doctorate
Known for law, drama and the humanities alongside a growing science and medicine campus in New Haven.
Northwestern University
Evanston, IL · private · doctorate
Journalism and communications alongside engineering, law, medicine and management across campuses in Evanston and Chicago.
Brown University
Providence, RI · private · doctorate
Open curriculum, strong humanities and computer science, and the smallest Ivy League student body.
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA · public · doctorate
One of the most applied-to universities in the country, with leading programs in film, life sciences, engineering and nursing.
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA · private · doctorate
The original computer-science school: artificial intelligence, robotics and human-computer interaction research decades ahead of the boom.
New York University
New York, NY · private · doctorate
A city without gates: Tisch arts, Stern business, law and a growing STEM footprint in Manhattan plus degree campuses in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai.
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA · private · doctorate
Large private research university next to Hollywood: film, business, engineering and diplomacy with a huge alumni network in entertainment and tech.
Enrolment, tuition and acceptance figures are rounded planning values compiled in 2025/26 for orientation. Verify exact numbers with each university's official fact sheet before you apply.