Top art and design universities in University Rankings 2024
Last week, Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) released its 2024 list of the top art and design schools worldwide. For the second year, London’s Royal College of Art (RCA) won.
The University of the Arts London, famed for its London College of Fashion (LCF) and Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design (CSM), is QS’ second-best international art and design school for the third year running.
In third place, we see the first change. The New School in New City, which comprises Parsons School of Design, has moved up to third from RISD, which has dropped to fourth.
Continuing the trend of UK and US universities, MIT is fifth and Pratt Institute in New York City with its School of Design is sixth.
QS World University Rankings: UK and US universities dominate top 5.
All of the top 5 schools except MIT offer fashion programs.
The QS World University Rankings 2023 list 1500 universities. Academic reputation, employer reputation, publication data, the H Index (which measures a professor or university department’s productivity and impact), and international research network determine each institution’s ranking.
The official World University Rankings website says QS introduced three new metrics—Sustainability, Employment Outcomes, and International Research Network—for its ‘largest-ever methodological enhancement’ this year.
Finland’s Aalto University, which was sixth last year, dropped two spots to eighth in the QS World University Rankings 2023.
Design Academy Eindhoven, another European university, finished eighth this year. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago rose one spot in the 2024 rankings to follow.
The first Asian art and design school, Tongji University in Shanghai, ranks 11th this year. The Bejing Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) follows shortly after.
CEO World’s 2024 top 10 is below.
QS ranks the top 10 art and design schools worldwide.
- RCA, London
University of the Arts London
3—Parsons, New York City US
4—RISD, Providence, US - MIT, Cambridge, US
- Pratt Institute, NYC US
7—Politecnico di Milano, Italy - Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
- Design Academy Eindhoven, Netherlands
- Chicago’s School of the Art Institute
Compared to previous year’s rankings, the 2024 rankings show more changes. The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), established in the US but has a campus in Lacoste, France, rose one spot to 15th this year.
Famous global institutions for fashion students in 2024 Rankings
Glasgow School of Art, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (KADK), and Universität der Künste Berlin in Germany placed 13th, 22nd, and 35th in Europe for fashion programs, respectively.
At 41st place is the first French school, Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Decoratifs (ENSAD), which offers a fashion design program.
RMIT University in Melbourne, ‘a global pioneer in fashion and textiles education’, ranks 18th in the 2024 rankings for art and design.
QS’s 20 Best Art and Design Schools Worldwide
- Shanghai’s Tongji University
- Delft Tech University, Netherlands
- Glasgow School of Art
- Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design
Savannah College of Art and Design, US - Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, US
Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), Beijing, China
18—RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
Hong Kong Polytechnic University
20—School of Visual Arts (SVA), NYC
US art and design schools again rank in the top 20 and 30 of the QS World University Rankings. Some less well-known colleges and schools are worth mentioning in addition to the top 5 and 10, often private, institutions.
The Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California has placed 14th for two years running. The School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City placed 20th and the California Institute of the Arts in Santa Clarita 23rd.