Fine & Studio Arts

Types of Degrees Fine & Studio Arts Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many fine and studio arts graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	24,602
Undergraduate Certificate	4,923
Associate Degree	4,205
Master’s Degree	2,984
Basic Certificate	459
Doctor’s Degree	160
Graduate Certificate	80

What Fine & Studio Arts Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, Fine Arts majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Fine Arts Majors

Fine Arts majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• 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.
• Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• 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.

Skills for Fine Arts Majors

When studying Fine Arts, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• 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.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Abilities for Fine Arts Majors

A major in Fine Arts will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• 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.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

What Can You Do With a Fine & Studio Arts Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with Fine Arts:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Archivists	14.7%	$52,240
Art Directors	5.4%	$92,780
Art, Drama, and Music Professors	12.0%	$69,960
Artists and Related Workers	5.5%	$65,390
Craft Artists	4.8%	$34,240
Curators	13.7%	$53,780
Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators	6.8%	$49,380
Multimedia Artists and Animators	8.4%	$72,520
Museum Technicians and Conservators	12.7%	$43,020
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education	7.5%	$60,320

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine & Studio Arts?

Fine and Studio Arts runs middle of the road when it comes to popularity, ranking #22 out of all the undergraduate majors we track. In 2021, about 24,602 graduates completed their bachelor’s degree in this field. This major is dominated by women with about 74% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of Fine Arts majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	1,827
Black or African American	1,719
Hispanic or Latino	4,241
White	13,394
International Students	1,411
Other Races/Ethnicities	2,010

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Fine Arts, too. About 5.7% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

• China
• South Korea
• Canada
• Taiwan
• India

How Much Do Fine & Studio Arts Majors Make?

Bachelor’s Degree Starting Salary

The median early-career salary of fine and studio arts students with a bachelor’s degree is $24,186 a year according to 2019-2020 data from the U.S. Department of Education. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $21,197 (25th percentile) and $27,279 (75th percentile).

It is possible that some of these people may have taken positions that were not related to Fine Arts.

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $43,570 to $67,700 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to Fine Arts. This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Fine & Studio Arts

Some careers associated with Fine Arts require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for Fine Arts careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	5.4%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	13.1%
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)	8.0%
Some College Courses	8.6%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	3.8%
Bachelor’s Degree	23.7%
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.	2.8%
Master’s Degree	25.2%
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.	1.4%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.0%
Doctoral Degree	8.2%
Post-Doctoral Training	0.2%

Online Fine & Studio Arts Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 1,492 schools offered some type of fine and studio arts program. 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)	77	6
Certificate (2-4 Years)	11	1
Associate’s Degree	498	7
Bachelor’s Degree	37	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	497	11
Post-Master’s	4	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	63	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Fine & Studio Arts Worth It?

The median salary for a Fine Arts grad is $58,370 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 46% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $369,400 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Fine & Studio Arts

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to Fine Arts.

Major	Number of Grads
Design & Applied Arts	36,301
Music	25,910
Drama & Theater Arts	17,341
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	16,778
General Visual & Performing Arts	6,355
Arts & Media Management	4,788
Dance	3,288
Other Visual Art	912
Crafts, Folk Art & Artisanry	119
Community/Environmental/Socially-Engaged Art	10

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
• Image Credit: By Jorge Royan under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.