Design and Applied Arts at Arkansas Tech University

Arkansas Tech's Design and Applied Arts graduates earn less than half what peers at University of Central Arkansas make, and considerably less than students at the University of Arkansas or Arkansas State—even though all charge similar in-state tuition. First-year earnings of $20,285 fall well below even the state median of $35,582, placing this program in the bottom 10% statewide.

The debt load compounds the problem. While $28,950 is close to national norms for design programs, it represents 1.4 years of earnings—a burden that becomes particularly heavy when you're bringing home barely $20,000 annually. That's poverty-level income with nearly $29,000 to repay, creating real financial strain in those critical early career years.

The small sample size here matters—with fewer than 30 graduates tracked, a few outliers could skew these numbers. But the pattern is stark enough to warrant serious consideration of alternatives. If your child is set on design in Arkansas, the earnings data suggests looking first at UCA or U of A, where graduates earn roughly double what Arkansas Tech alumni make in this field.