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Surprise, Arizona has 5 accredited schools offering graphic design programs, with tuition ranging from $2,358 to $18,040 per year for indexed programs. Surprise has a population of about 149,519. Median household income is $93,371 (Census ACS 2023, 5-year). About 31.0% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. In the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ metro area, the top-earning graphic design-related role is Web and Digital Interface Designer at a median $104,940 annually (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer graphic design programs near Surprise, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Surprise city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS data on every site update.
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS). To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked against schools at the same credential level:
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score. On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Surprise. Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:Accreditor: Higher Learning CommissionIPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source: IPEDS / College Scorecard (2023 cohort). Browse all Arizona schools on the Arizona graphic design page.
Surprise is part of the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ metro area (BLS area code 38060). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to Arizona statewide.
| Occupation | Median Wage | Source | COL-Adjusted (US=100) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Graphic Designer | $59,090 | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | $57,202 |
| Art Director | N/A | AZ statewide | – |
| Web and Digital Interface Designer | $104,940 | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | $101,588 |
| Special Effects Artist and Animator | $96,670 | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | $93,582 |
Source: BLS, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data at the metro (MSA) and state level – not by individual city.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 149,519 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B01003) |
| Median household income | $93,371 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B19013) |
| Adults 25+ with bachelor’s+ | 31.0% | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B15003) |
| Regional Price Parity (US=100) | 103.3 (above U.S. average) | BEA RPP 2024 |
Our directory has 5 accredited schools offering graphic design programs near Surprise. The closest is Estrella Mountain Community College in Avondale, AZ (15.0 miles), and the farthest of the schools shown is Phoenix College (25.0 miles). 3 of the highlighted schools are flagged as offering distance education.
Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying graphic design-related roles near Surprise are: Web and Digital Interface Designer ($104,940), Special Effects Artist and Animator ($96,670), Graphic Designer ($59,090). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with Arizona statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.
El Mirage, AZ is 9.5 miles from Surprise and has its own set of local graphic design programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.
Surprise’s median household income of $93,371 (Census ACS 2023) is one input. Online programs let students stay in Surprise while attending lower-cost out-of-state schools, and Arizona public universities often offer reduced in-state online tuition.
Confirm institutional accreditation via the U.S. Department of Education database (U.S. Dept. of Education database), and check for any program-specific accreditation listed by the school.
Compare every accredited online degree program with city-level data for Surprise:
Data verified: July 30, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
Back to Best Online Graphic Design Programs in Arizona (2026)
