Visual & Performing Arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

If you plan to study visual and performing arts, take a look at what Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has to offer and decide if the program is a good match for you. Get started with the following essential facts.

RPI is located in Troy, New York and approximately 7,501 students attend the school each year. In the 2020-2021 academic year, 28 students received a bachelor's degree in visual and performing arts from RPI.

Want to know more about the career opportunities in this field? Check out the Careers in Visual & Performing Arts section at the bottom of this page.

RPI Visual & Performing Arts Degrees Available

• Bachelor’s Degree in Visual & Performing Arts
• Master’s Degree in Visual & Performing Arts
• Doctorate Degree in Visual & Performing Arts

RPI Visual & Performing Arts Rankings

Each year, College Factual ranks visual and performing arts programs across the country. The following shows how RPI performed in these rankings.

Note: Rankings don't always give a complete picture of a school's strengths and weaknesses, so it's a good idea to extend your research and also look at other factors when trying to decide if the school is right for you.

Bachelor’s Degree Overall Quality & Other Notable Rankings

The visual and performing arts major at RPI is not ranked on College Factual’s Best Colleges and Universities for Visual & Performing Arts. This could be for a number of reasons, such as not having enough data on the major or school to make an accurate assessment of its quality.

Ranking Type	Rank
Best Visual & Performing Arts Doctor’s Degree Schools	7
	30
Most Focused Visual & Performing Arts Doctor’s Degree Schools	33
Best Value Visual & Performing Arts Doctor’s Degree Schools	73
Best Value Visual & Performing Arts Master’s Degree Schools	309

In 2021, 5 students received their master’s degree in visual and performing arts from RPI. This makes it the #363 most popular school for visual and performing arts master’s degree candidates in the country.

There were 6 students who received their doctoral degrees in visual and performing arts, making the school the #76 most popular school in the United States for this category of students.

Visual & Performing Arts Student Demographics at RPI

Take a look at the following statistics related to the make-up of the visual and performing arts majors at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

RPI Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Program

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 28 students earned a bachelor's degree in visual and performing arts from RPI. About 29% of these graduates were women and the other 71% were men. The typical visual and performing arts bachelor's degree program is made up of only 38% men. So male students are more repesented at RPI since its program graduates 34% more men than average.

About 61% of those who receive a bachelor's degree in visual and performing arts at RPI are white. This is above average for this degree on the nationwide level.

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a bachelor's in visual and performing arts.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	5
Black or African American	0
Hispanic or Latino	0
White	17
International Students	2
Other Races/Ethnicities	4

RPI Visual & Performing Arts Master’s Program

The visual and performing arts program at RPI awarded 5 master's degrees in 2020-2021. About 80% of these degrees went to men with the other 20% going to women. Nationwide, master's degree programs only see 38% men graduate in visual and performing arts each year. RPI does a better job at serving the male population as it supports 42% more men than average.

In the visual and performing arts master's program at this school, racial-ethnic minorities make up 40% of degree recipients. That is 4% better than the national average.*

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a master's in visual and performing arts.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	0
Black or African American	1
Hispanic or Latino	1
White	1
International Students	2
Other Races/Ethnicities	0

RPI also has a doctoral program available in visual and performing arts. In 2021, 6 students graduated with a doctor's degree in this field.

Concentrations Within Visual & Performing Arts

If you plan to be a visual and performing arts major, you may want to focus your studies on one of the following concentrations. The table shows all degrees awarded in this field awarded for all degree levels at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. A concentration may not be available for your level.

Concentration	Annual Degrees Awarded
Design & Applied Arts	29
General Visual & Performing Arts	10

Related Majors

Careers That Visual & Performing Arts Grads May Go Into

A degree in visual and performing arts can lead to the following careers. Since job numbers and average salaries can vary by geographic location, we have only included the numbers for NY, the home state for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Occupation	Jobs in NY	Average Salary in NY
High School Teachers	74,830	$85,300
Producers and Directors	26,110	$115,610
Graphic Designers	21,350	$64,840
Managers	16,600	$124,160
Art, Drama, and Music Professors	11,530	$99,870

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• Image Credit: By UpstateNYer under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.