Which Minnesota design and applied arts program has the lowest debt?

University of Minnesota reports the lowest median federal debt, $24,000, with first-year pay of $42,462.

How much do design and applied arts graduates earn in Minnesota?

The median across 11 Minnesota design and applied arts bachelor's programs is $34,627 in the first year after graduating and $45,820 five years after.

How many design and applied arts bachelor's programs are in Minnesota?

11 Minnesota programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 6 of them also report federal debt.

Design and Applied Arts (Bachelor's) Programs in Minnesota, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

11 programs report first-year pay
6 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Design and Applied Arts

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Minnesota design and applied arts bachelor's program pays its graduates $34,627 in their first year, $1,091 more than the national median. University of Minnesota reports the highest first-year pay ($42,462), and University of Minnesota the lowest median debt ($24,000).

Median first-year pay$34,627National $33,536

Median pay after 5 years$45,820National $50,431

Median federal debt$27,000National $27,000

Debt-to-earnings75%National 77%

All 11 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	University of MinnesotaMinneapolis · public	$42,462	$61,564	$24,000	57%
2	Dunwoody College of TechnologyMinneapolis · private nonprofit	$40,302	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
3	Bemidji StateBemidji · public	$40,231	$34,819	$27,000	67%
4	Minnesota State MoorheadMoorhead · public	$38,587	$46,027	$27,000	70%
5	University of Northwestern-St PaulSaint Paul · private nonprofit	$37,966	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
6	Saint Cloud StateSaint Cloud · public	$34,627	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
7	Concordia University-Saint PaulSaint Paul · private nonprofit	$34,384	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
8	Rasmussen UniversitySt. Cloud · private for-profit	$32,482	Not reported	$35,438	109%
9	St Catherine UniversitySaint Paul · private nonprofit	$31,547	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
10	University of Minnesota-DuluthDuluth · public	$31,337	$43,529	$24,800	79%
11	Minneapolis College of Art and DesignMinneapolis · private nonprofit	$23,687	$45,820	$27,000	114%

5 programs report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Minnesota design and applied arts program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Minnesota medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 6 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

University of Minnesota$42,462
Dunwoody College of Technology$40,302
Bemidji State$40,231
Minnesota State Moorhead$38,587
University of Northwestern-St Paul$37,966

Lowest median debt

University of Minnesota$24,000
University of Minnesota-Duluth$24,800
Bemidji State$27,000
Minnesota State Moorhead$27,000
Minneapolis College of Art and Design$27,000

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

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

$63,860

Median pay in Minnesota. 5,570 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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.

Bottom 10%: $42,690Top 10%: $96,960

Web and Digital Interface Designers

$82,650

Median pay in Minnesota. 1,520 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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.

Bottom 10%: $47,190Top 10%: $133,710

Interior Designers

$73,270

Median pay in Minnesota. 1,220 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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.

Bottom 10%: $41,280Top 10%: $103,010

Art Directors

$109,700

Median pay in Minnesota. 920 people work in this job in Minnesota. 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.

Bottom 10%: $70,810Top 10%: $177,680

Common questions

University of Minnesota in Minneapolis reports the highest median first-year pay, $42,462. Its median federal debt is $24,000.

Design and Applied Arts (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked297 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
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 Minnesota rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the design and applied arts bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024