Commercial Photography

Types of Degrees Commercial Photography Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Basic Certificate	322
Associate Degree	287
Bachelor’s Degree	92
Undergraduate Certificate	88
Master’s Degree	6

What Commercial Photography Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to commercial photography 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 Photography Majors

Commercial Photography majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• 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.
• 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.

Skills for Commercial Photography Majors

commercial photography majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• 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.
• Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

Abilities for Commercial Photography Majors

A major in commercial photography will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• 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.
• 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.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

What Can You Do With a Commercial Photography Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with commercial photography:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Art, Drama, and Music Professors	12.0%	$69,960

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Commercial Photography?

The major attracts more women than men. About 72% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	5
Black or African American	3
Hispanic or Latino	15
White	62
International Students	1
Other Races/Ethnicities	6

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Commercial Photography, too. About 1.1% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Commercial Photography

Some degrees associated with commercial photography may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

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

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	5.4%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	9.5%
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)	1.4%
Some College Courses	5.4%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	7.7%
Bachelor’s Degree	14.6%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	0.5%
Master’s Degree	33.6%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	1.1%
Doctoral Degree	21.0%

Online Commercial Photography 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)	29	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	4	0
Associate’s Degree	51	3
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	1	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Commercial Photography

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to commercial photography.

Major	Number of Grads
Graphic Design	9,176
Interior Design	5,625
Visual Communications	5,606
Commercial & Advertising Art	3,319
Fashion Design	3,032
Illustration	2,989
Game & Interactive Media Design	2,437
Other Design & Applied Arts	1,689
Industrial Design	1,351

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.