College is expensive; even the 11 Most Affordable Art Schools in America will tell you that. Most people know that, if they want a good education, unless they’re extremely poor or extremely smart, they’ll be paying off those student loans for years. (Thank goodness for payment plans.)
But some universities aren’t as expensive as you might think. Even Ivy League colleges can prove somewhat reasonable as is demonstrated in the 7 Most Affordable Ivy League Schools in the US.
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But for those students desiring to pursue the art industry specifically, they might want to refer to this list. We consulted the US News Top Fine Art Schools list and from their Top 50, ranked the most affordable. So you can thank us because, though we listed affordable schools, we didn’t give you trashy ones, either. You’re sure to be well educated in a wide variety of art fields at any of the schools below. And we listed them from most to least expensive.
But there are a few points to keep in mind. First, we only ranked the schools that were specifically art schools. Though we know that many universities have art programs, unless they included the words “Art” or “Design” in their school name, we didn’t rank them. Also, we all know how institutions have a way of racking up expenses, and some of those aren’t even included under their “Tuition & Fees” section on the website. So every number we provide should be looked at as a rough estimate. Tuition and Fees for schools often change (most often grow) every year or even semester. These prices are what’s estimated for the 2015-2016 full year (spring and fall).
The estimates below are based on tuition and fees for a full-time undergraduate student in their first year (meaning that listed orientation and entrance fees are also included). We assume that this student will live on campus, so also include room, board and food prices listed. We also assumed the student was in state or domestic. For instance, some schools charge a higher fee for out of state or out of country students. We didn’t account for that. One more thing to remember is health insurance. Students who don’t have it must pay the school’s price for it. For students who do, the fee is waived with proof of insurance.
With all that in mind, here is an estimated list of the 11 Most Affordable Art Schools in America. Though they’re all roughly in the same price range, a few thousand dollars extra can certainly add up year after year.
