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Stanford University leads the 913 Arts, Design & Architecture universities in the United States at #3 in the QS World University Rankings 2026. Next come Harvard University (QS World #5) and Cornell University (QS World #13). The universities on this list offer 2,749 matching courses between them.
913 universities · ranked best first
how we rankPublic University · 1 course in Arts, Design & Architecture
Arts, Design & Architecture at other levels
Related subjects
60 of these universities hold a QS World position, from #3 (Stanford University) to #593 (University of Central Florida); they are listed first, in that order. The rest are ordered by research impact. Harvard University has the largest research record in this group, with 146,555,275 citations and an h-index of 2,809. 38 universities have neither a QS position nor a research record yet and appear at the end, marked "Not yet ranked".
The split is 904 public to 9 private institutions. By location, New York (5), Massachusetts (4) and Texas (3) account for the most of those we can place. The oldest is Harvard University, founded in 1636. University of the People is the largest, with 270,000 students.
By level: 1,691 bachelor's, 272 master's, 160 diploma and 45 professional. Within the subject, the largest areas are Arts, Design & Architecture (2,659), Fine Arts (53), Multimedia Design (8) and Fashion Design (7). The usual length is 4 years and 1–2 years. 98% are full-time and 52 can be studied online. Start dates lean to Fall (100% of courses with a stated intake) and Spring (98% of courses with a stated intake). Pratt Institute offers the widest choice, with 83 of these courses.
We hold indicative fees for 33 of these universities. University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez is the least expensive at USD 5,274 a year and Columbia University the most at USD 66,000; the middle of the range is about USD 22,326. Check each university's own fee page before you budget — figures change every year.
Stanford University (QS World #3), Harvard University (QS World #5) and Cornell University (QS World #13) lead this list. QS World positions come first; the rest are ranked by research impact.
Of those with published fees, University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez is the least expensive at about USD 5,274 a year. Fees are indicative — confirm on the university's site.
904 public and 9 private universities are on this list.
Most listed courses run 4 years, with 1–2 years the next most common.
Fall is the main intake — 100% of courses with a stated start date begin then, and Spring is the second.
52 of these courses are listed as online.
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