Commercial and Advertising Art

Types of Degrees Commercial and Advertising Art Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many commercial & advertising art graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Associate Degree	1,420
Basic Certificate	750
Bachelor’s Degree	715
Undergraduate Certificate	396
Master’s Degree	38

What Commercial and Advertising Art Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to commercial and advertising art and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Commercial and Advertising Art Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• Design - Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Skills for Commercial and Advertising Art Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to commercial and advertising art:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.

Abilities for Commercial and Advertising Art Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a commercial and advertising art student include the following:

• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
• Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

What Can You Do With a Commercial and Advertising Art Major?

People with a commercial and advertising art degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Artists and Related Workers	5.5%	$65,390
Commercial and Industrial Designers	4.3%	$66,590
Graphic Designers	4.2%	$50,370

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Commercial and Advertising Art?

The major attracts more women than men. About 73% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of commercial and advertising art majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	48
Black or African American	47
Hispanic or Latino	66
White	472
International Students	27
Other Races/Ethnicities	55

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Commercial and Advertising Art. About 3.8% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Commercial and Advertising Art

Some degrees associated with commercial and advertising art may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to commercial and advertising art have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	4.0%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	4.9%
Some College Courses	10.6%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	14.2%
Bachelor’s Degree	64.2%
Master’s Degree	2.4%

Online Commercial and Advertising Art Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	78	1
Certificate (2-4 Years)	8	0
Associate’s Degree	133	5
Bachelor’s Degree	3	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	7	2
Post-Master’s	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Commercial and Advertising Art

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to commercial and advertising art.

Major	Number of Grads
Graphic Design	9,176
Interior Design	5,625
Visual Communications	5,606
Fashion Design	3,032
Illustration	2,989
Game & Interactive Media Design	2,437
Other Design & Applied Arts	1,689
Industrial Design	1,351
Commercial Photography	795

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
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.