Overview: National Rankings
VCUarts is once again ranked the #1 public university school of arts and design in the country by U.S. News & World Report (2009).
U.S. News & World Report rankings were released March, 2008
Specialty rankings from that report honored the following eight VCUarts graduate programs:
Sculpture, #1 overall
Graphic Design, #4 overall (#1 among public university programs)
Painting, #8 overall (#3 among public university programs)
Fiber Arts #4 overall (Dept. of Craft/Material Studies) (#1 among public university programs)
Glass #5 overall (Craft/Material Studies) (#1 among public university programs)
Multimedia/Visual Communications #9 overall (likely a combination of our departments of Communication Arts, Graphic Design, Photography and Film, and Kinetic Imaging) (#3 public university ranking)
Metals/Jewelry, #10 overall (Craft/Material Studies) (#5 among public university programs)
Ceramics #12 overall (Craft/Material Studies) (#6 among public university programs)
Printmaking #17 overall (our Dept. of Painting & Printmaking) (#10 among public university programs)
In short, VCUarts has the highest ranking ever achieved by a public university school of arts and design and is the only public university to consistently rise in the rankings.
VCUarts Department of Interior Design graduate program is ranked as the #4 Interior Design graduate program in the south (regional schools) and #6 (national/ regional schools) by DesignIntelligence 2008 America's Best Architecture & Design Schools. The undergraduate program is ranked #5 (regional schools).
VCUarts Department of Interior Design has been ranked as one of the top five programs in
the country by Interior Design Magazine (1996).
Dance and Choreography is an invited member of the Council of Dance Administrators
(CODA), a forum of the nation's 25 leading dance programs.
Why do rankings and reputation matter?
A degree from VCUarts gives our alumni credibility in the world of galleries, graduate schools, artistic directors and employers. Our graduates are known for professionalism, skill, and readiness to enter their desired field as artists.
“The true measure of our reputation is how we are recognized outside of the school. In the past four years our alumni and faculty have received three Guggenheim Fellowships, three awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and two MacArthur Fellows "Genius" awards, among many others. This kind of achievement surpasses that of most universities,
let alone individual art schools.”
–Dean Richard Toscan
Tuition Comparison Among Top Ranked Art Schools
VCU remains one of the best higher education values around. The 2008-09 tuition costs* for the top ten ranked schools of art and design according to U.S. News & World Report are as follows.
| #1 Rhode Island School of Design | $34,925 | |
| #2 Yale University | $35,300 | |
| #3 School of the Art Institute of Chicago | $32,840 | |
| #4 Virginia Commonwealth University | $19,556 Non-Va Residents $6,779 Va Residents |
|
| (tie) Maryland Institute College of Art | $32,680 | |
| (tie) Cranbrook Academy of Art | $25,460 | |
| #7 California Institute of the Arts | $33,436 | |
| (tie) Carnegie Mellon University | $39,564 | |
| (tie) University of California – Los Angeles | $28,162 | |
| #10 Alfred University | $24,278 |
*Tuition costs as cited on Collegeboard.com 12/08. Includes tuition and fees.
