USF Design and Applied Arts (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Design and Applied Arts
- Public university
- Tampa, FL
- About 18 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
USF design and applied arts graduates earn more than graduates of most design and applied arts programs nationally, $38,938 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $17,500 in federal loans, less than at 94% of design and applied arts programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying design and applied arts degrees in Florida.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Florida and national columns are the medians across all design and applied arts bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, USF graduates earn more than the national figure and about $6,191 more than the Florida median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Florida design and applied arts program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Florida medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 41% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $186 a month, or 5.7% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
93% of graduates (27 of 29) were working in Florida one year after graduating. Prices in the Tampa area are about 1% above the national average, so a $38,938 salary here buys what about $38,595 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to design and applied arts, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Graphic Designers
$61,660Median pay in Florida. 12,660 people work in this job in Florida. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 16,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Web and Digital Interface Designers
$77,730Median pay in Florida. 4,620 people work in this job in Florida. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 8,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Interior Designers
$60,860Median pay in Florida. 7,410 people work in this job in Florida. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Art Directors
$99,660Median pay in Florida. 2,520 people work in this job in Florida. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
About USF
Design and Applied Arts ranks 26th of 54 bachelor's programs at USF by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Engineering ($83,660), Electrical Engineering ($78,825), and Nursing ($72,879).
Other design and applied arts bachelor's programs near Tampa
Common questions
The median graduate earns $38,938 one year after graduating and $54,896 five years after. The median across design and applied arts bachelor's programs in Florida is $36,587.
The median federal loan balance is $17,500, which ranks the lowest of 8 design and applied arts bachelor's programs in Florida. That works out to about $186 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 45% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 77%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Florida programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 93% (27 of 29) were working in Florida one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Florida comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the design and applied arts program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024