Top 15 Online Bachelor’s in Graphic Design

The field of graphic design has grown enormously in recent years, and the variety and number of job titles available to those with degrees are higher than ever. There’s the occupation of graphic designer, of course, but there’s also art director, creative director, web designer, multimedia artist/animator, marketing manager, film and video editor, industrial/product designer, photographer, and many other exciting career choices in this endeavor that mixes the artistic with the technological.

The schools that are listed below reveal what you can do as both a professional and a creative person. The featured online degree programs will develop your skills and teach you myriads of concepts and essential background knowledge about graphic design. You will also learn how to utilize specific tools for design that are essential to becoming a graphic artist, tools like Photoshop, InDesign, and Adobe’s Illustrator.

If you require flexibility as you work to obtain a degree, you will appreciate the fact that these online programs offer full and/or part-time schedules. Because the job outlook has not always been consistent, you may consider attending graduate school at a pace that seems to suit you best. The cohort experience is also likely available in most, if not all, of the schools listed here. The 120-credit hour degree is probably most common, but some credit hour counts are higher. The transfer of credits is always an attractive option. Some schools note that related positions to graphic design work have a more optimistic growth expectation.
The schools in our list have been researched and evaluated according to the categories listed in the charts below. All figures are from the schools themselves or from niche.com.

Top 15 Online Bachelor's in Graphic Design for 2020

Rating and Ranking Methodology

Hourly Tuition

Hourly Out of State Rate $400 and Below : 5 points
Hourly Out of State Rate $500 and Below : 4 points
Hourly Out of State Rate $600 and Below: 3 points
Hourly Out of State Rate $700 and Below: 2 points
Hourly Out of State Rate above $701: 1 point

Student-to-Faculty Ratio

10:1 or fewer: 5 points
15:1 or fewer: 4 points
20:1 or fewer: 3 points
30:1 or fewer: 2 points
50:1 or fewer: 1 point

Earnings Six Years After Graduation

$50,000 and above: 5 points
$45,000 – $49,999: 4 points
$40,000 – $44,999: 3 points
$34,999 – $39,999: 2 points
$Below $35,000: 1 point

Regional Accreditation

5 points

15. SCAD

BA in Visual Communication, Graphic Design Concentration Online

Regional Accreditation: Yes
Hourly Tuition Rate: $835
Student to Faculty Ratio: 20:1
Earnings Six Years After Graduation: $36,400
Points: 11
Website

The website for Savannah College of Art and Design’s BA in visual communication, graphic design concentration degree promises that you will learn how to “weave entrepreneurship and modern technology with product and user-centered design.” The 180 credit hour program consists of 90 hours of general education, 25 hours in foundation studies, 45 hours in graphic design courses, and 20 hours of additional electives. The curriculum for SCAD’s BA in visual communication, graphic design concentration, which emphasizes learning from industry titans like Airbnb, Google, Hasbro, and others, includes the following coursework: core principles–interactive design; production for print and digital environments; and graphic design management.

14. Arizona State University

Online BS in Graphic Information Technology

Regional Accreditation: Yes
Hourly Tuition Rate: $740
Student to Faculty Ratio: 20:1
Earnings Six Years After Graduation: $47,700
Points: 13
Website
Arizona State University has spent more than a decade increasing and improving the online delivery of online bachelor of science degrees such as the one in graphic information technology. The school stresses the importance of building complex technological knowledge with understanding the managerial executive side of creative project design. Courses cover design visualization, digital illustration, web authoring, and techniques in digital video. ASU online BS in graphic information technology has a web concentration to suit the method of delivery. The forty-class curriculum allows for 7.5 weeks per class.

13. California Baptist University

Online BA in Graphic Arts and Digital Media

Regional Accreditation: Yes
Hourly Tuition Rate: $613
Student to Faculty Ratio: 17:1
Earnings Six Years After Graduation: $42,600
Points: 13
Website

California Baptist University has designed a bachelor of arts in graphic design and digital media to attract professional-minded creatives with a sense of duty. Key skills developed range from imaging to typography to scripting. The online BA in graphic design and digital media is among California Baptist University’s offerings and the online approach that has grown and made the school feature on a number of rankings lists that emphasize distance learning. The online BA degree in Graphic Design and Digital Media also provides the aspiring professional with direct links to successful people in the field, who are professionals, accomplished faculty, and/or mentors.

12. RMCAD

Online Bachelor’s in Graphic Design

Regional Accreditation: Yes
Hourly Tuition Rate: $518
Student to Faculty Ratio: 7:1
Earnings Six Years After Graduation: $33,000
Points: 14
Website
Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design has created an online bachelor’s in graphic design for the sake of the practical necessity of a four-year degree for professional creative work. You will be well-established with fifteen credits of art history to complement communications and electives in the studio. You will need software literacy, and yours will be sharpened in a learning environment stated to be both “independent,” as well as supplying the benefit of instruction from “practicing working professionals.” RMCAD’s website for the online bachelor’s degree in graphic design is notably easy to navigate.

11. Upper Iowa University

BA in Graphic Design Online

Regional Accreditation: Yes
Hourly Tuition Rate: $471
Student to Faculty Ratio: 17:1
Earnings Six Years After Graduation: $42,900
Points: 15
Website
Upper Iowa University’s online bachelor of arts in graphic design degree is a part of The School of Business and Professional Studies, which makes great sense when you are aware that nearly one-third of all graphic designers are self-employed. The program consists of 36 credit hours of upper division courses. The online BA degree in graphic design degree allows you to develop a very impressive portfolio for future interviews. Alternatively, students who are enrolled in The School of Business and Professional Studies may enroll in up to 12 credit hours of MBA coursework in their senior year, all through the MBA Link program.

10. Kentucky Wesleyan University

Online BA in Graphic Design

Regional Accreditation: Yes
Hourly Tuition Rate: $455
Student to Faculty Ratio: 13:1
Earnings Six Years After Graduation: $36,700
Points: 15
Website

Kentucky Wesleyan University’s totally online bachelor of arts in graphic design has in mind thorough coursework preparation in design and drawing before reaching training in graphic design can begin. That coursework includes publication, typography, and web design. The site stresses the professional as well as the personal support for you with academic, enrollment, and financial counseling. The site notes that the distance learning structure depends on a collaborative effort between you and your digital cohort. Kentucky Wesleyan University BA in graphic design online recommends specific careers, such as digital retouch artist, ad layout designer, photo manipulator.

9. Bellevue University

BA in Graphic Design Online

Regional Accreditation: Yes
Hourly Tuition Rate: $425
Student to Faculty Ratio: 40:1
Earnings Six Years After Graduation: $53,600
Points: 15
Website
Bellevue University’s online bachelor of arts in graphic design prepares you for the next stages of software and other technological literacies crucial to the adaptation of creative projects. Of course, a portfolio will be expected of you before you are done. Bellevue University’s BA in graphic design is 127 credits, including “Kirkpatrick Signature Series,” a trio of courses designed for seniors. At this point, you will have a fourth year’s level of reflection before graduation upon the US and the changes to institutions and the responsibility that comes with cultural change.

8. Penn St World Campus

Online Bachelor of Design in Digital Multimedia Design

Regional Accreditation: Yes
Hourly Tuition Rate: $617
Student to Faculty Ratio: 11:1
Earnings Six Years After Graduation: $50,100
Points: 16
Website

Penn State World Campus’s online bachelor of design in digital multimedia design wants you to think of how to be a leader among those in creative work. A balance of visual and information study is part of how you can gain skills and even mastery and apply these to next year’s challenges for design and programming in your projects. The online bachelor of design in digital multimedia design at Penn State World Campus makes you use your time wisely among your cohort and develop portfolios independently.

7. Lesley University

BFA in Graphic Design Online

Regional Accreditation: Yes
Hourly Tuition Rate: $445
Student to Faculty Ratio: 10:1
Earnings Six Years After Graduation: $38,700
Points: 16
Website
When earning your online BFA in graphic design, Lesley University expects you to create your own style of degree via the school’s wide range of minors. The sample the school gives is developing a career as an urban planner by aligning graphic design and political science. Dozens of scholarships and grants are available whether you are from a community that can get half off tuition (via the Urban Scholars Initiative) or a returning veteran. Lesley University’s BFA in graphic design program highlights the strength of the local city’s strong working climate for those in graphic designs.

6. University of West Alabama

BA/BS in Integrated Marketing Communications Online

Regional Accreditation: Yes
Hourly Tuition Rate: $325
Student to Faculty Ratio: 13:1
Earnings Six Years After Graduation: $37,400
Points: 16
Website

With the University of West Alabama’s online BA/BS, you can concentrate in sports communication, marketing, or graphic design. With some overlap, the latter features television production and media buying and closes with a related internship. Getting into the program is guided from the beginning with a counselor from enrollment. The general education requirements, as well as the transfer hour expectations all, run very typical to other schools on this list. University of West Alabama’s online BA/BS program considers likely positions for graduates to be media production-related, mainly.

5. Southern New Hampshire University

BA in Graphic Design and Media Arts Online

Regional Accreditation: Yes
Hourly Tuition Rate: $320
Student to Faculty Ratio: 28:1
Earnings Six Years After Graduation: $45,400
Points: 16
Website

Southern New Hampshire University’s online bachelor’s in graphic design and media arts has an exceedingly useful site with resources and explanations for those considering full-time distance-learning. You can choose from concentrations such as animation & 3D modeling, or you can focus on web design to prepare for work in digital publishing or possibly animation.

Southern New Hampshire University is regularly featured on lists due to over a decade of strengthening an online-focused university curriculum and delivery. To apply for the online BA in graphic design and media arts program, complete the online application, and an admissions representative will contact you to finish the process.

4. Maryville University of St Louis

Online BFA in Graphic Design

Regional Accreditation: Yes
Hourly Tuition Rate: $500
Student to Faculty Ratio: 14:1
Earnings Six Years After Graduation: $47,200
Points: 17
Website

Maryville University of St Louis’s bachelor of fine arts in graphic design is fully online and intended to be taken in a concentrated period of study that leads to a full year of capstone work. The spirit is that of project-oriented pedagogy. The school notes the strength of the graphic design student chapters also, for career development opportunities. The Maryville University of St Louis boasts of small class size for students in their BFA in the graphic design program, with millions in available scholarship funds and the use of a life coach for each student throughout the time at Maryville.

3. University of Maryland Global Campus

BA in Graphic Communication Online

Regional Accreditation: Yes
Hourly Tuition Rate: $499
Student to Faculty Ratio: 19:1
Earnings Six Years After Graduation: $51,200
Points: 17
Website

The University of Maryland Global Campus’s Bachelor of Arts in graphic communication stresses the development of a portfolio, the product of 120 hours of undergraduate study. Of those hours, you can transfer as many as ninety. From first-year graphic communication to digital media courses to professional branding, you and your cohort will develop and graduate together. Reduced tuition for state residents and students with a military background aims to decrease expenditures during your undergraduate experience. Before completing your degree in the University of Maryland Global Campus BA in graphic communication, you are expected to put together a relevant, realistic business plan.

2. UMass Lowell

Online BFA in Art (Interactive Media, Animation, Graphic Design)

Regional Accreditation: Yes
Hourly Tuition Rate: $380
Student to Faculty Ratio: 17:1
Earnings Six Years After Graduation: $53,300
Points: 18

UMass Lowell’s online bachelor of fine arts in art includes a direction towards interactive media, animation, as well as graphic design. The degree is designed to prepare you with direct community experience as well as study, design, and creation. Your likely path can be found with a cohort getting foundations to junior year internship to senior studio work. The UMass Lowell online BFA in graphic arts expects you will graduate prepared for teaching or other professional positions as well as graduate study. An application must be submitted to the undergraduate school as well as a portfolio submitted to the Art and Design Department.

1. Champlain College

Online BS in Web Design Development

Regional Accreditation: Yes
Hourly Tuition Rate: $318
Student to Faculty Ratio: 14:1
Earnings Six Years After Graduation: $45,400
Points: 18
Website

Champlain College has a bachelor of science in web design & development that is 100% online and features full and part-time chances to complete the degree. Options have been carefully weighed to prepare you for the technical, business, and design needs as well as the communications abilities crucial to most creative careers. Among the particulars in Champlain College’s online BS in web design & development are web programming, web design, and PHP programming. Suggested careers in web development range from UX designer to front-end developer. Plan for three semesters per year and two seven-week terms per semester.

GDH Staff
April 2020

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