背景介绍：USNews自1985年起开始，每年发布全美大学排名，逐渐成为准申请人和家长心中的信得过的品牌和选校红宝书。
根据StudentPoll和act联合进行的调查显示，在众多美国大学排名中，USNews占据重中之重的位置：58%的接受调查者使用USNews的排名，21%使用PrincetonReview，9%使用福布斯最佳高校排行，5%用thebestcolleges.org，另有8%使用其他排行榜。不过USNews同样提出，建议学生使用最佳研究生院排名作为辅助选择入读项目的有效工具，而不是作为下最终决定的唯一因素。唯排名论或许会对申请和入读造成一定程度的消极影响，建议读者理性看待排名的价值。
学校排名
1Yale University
2Rhode Island School of Design
2School of the Art Institute of Chicago
4University of California—Los Angeles
4Virginia Commonwealth University
6California Institute of the Arts
7Carnegie Mellon University
7Cranbrook Academy of Art
7Maryland Institute College of Art
10Columbia University
11Alfred University—New York State College of Ceramics
11California College of the Arts
13Bard College
13Temple University
13CUNY—Hunter College
13University of California—San Diego
13Washington University in St. Louis
18Art Center College of Design
18Ohio State University
18School of Visual Arts
18University of Wisconsin—Madison
22Arizona State University
22Massachusetts College of Art
22University of Iowa
22University of Georgia
22University of Texas—Austin
27Pratt Institute
27University of Michigan
27University of Washington
27Otis College of Art and Design
27Rochester Institute of Technology
27Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey—New Brunswick
27San Francisco Art Institute
27University of California—Davis
27University of Illinois—Urbana-Champaign
36Cornell University
36Stanford University
36University of Arizona
36Indiana University—Bloomington (Hope)
36Minneapolis College of Art and Design
36New School—Parsons School of Design
36Tufts University - School of the Museum of Fine Arts—Boston
36University of California—Berkeley
36University of Southern California
45Herron School of Art
45New York University
45Purchase College—SUNY
45Syracuse University
45University of Illinois—Chicago
45University of Minnesota—Twin Cities
45University of Pennsylvania
45University of Tennessee—Knoxville
53Columbia College
53Ohio University
53University of Chicago
53University of New Mexico
53Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
53University of California—Irvine
53University of Colorado—Boulder
53University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill
53University of the Arts
62Claremont Graduate University
62Louisiana State University
62Northwestern University
62Southern Illinois University—Carbondale
62University of Cincinnati
62University of Florida
62University of Nebraska—Lincoln
62University of North Texas
62University of Oregon
62University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee
72Boston University
72Cleveland Institute of Art
72Florida State University
72Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
72San Diego State University
72Stony Brook University—SUNY
72University at Buffalo—SUNY
72University of Kansas
72University of South Florida
72West Virginia University
82Mills College
82California State University—Los Angeles
82Columbus College of Art and Design
82George Mason University
82Northern Illinois University
82San Jose State University
82SUNY—New Paltz
82University of California—Santa Cruz
93CUNY—Brooklyn College
93CUNY—City College
93Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
93Iowa State University
93James Madison University
93Memphis College of Art
93Miami University
93Michigan State University
93Montana State University
93New York Studio School
93San Francisco State University
93Tulane University
93University of California—Santa Barbara
93University of Connecticut
93University of Kentucky
93University of Massachusetts—Amherst
93University of Nevada—Las Vegas
93University of Utah
93Washington State University
114Bowling green State University
114Kansas State University
114Maine College of Art
114Pacific Northwest College of Art
114Portland State University
114Purdue University
114University at Albany—SUNY
114University of Delaware
114University of Houston
114University of Maryland—Baltimore County
114University of Miami
114University of Notre Dame
114University of Texas—San Antonio
