Visual Arts

Types of Degrees Visual Arts Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many general visual & performing arts graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	4,199
Associate Degree	1,740
Basic Certificate	391
Master’s Degree	327
Undergraduate Certificate	81
Doctor’s Degree	28
Graduate Certificate	19

What Visual Arts Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to visual arts 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 Visual Arts Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in visual arts should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• 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.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• 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 Visual Arts Majors

visual arts majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• 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.
• Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

Abilities for Visual Arts Majors

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a visual arts student include the following:

• 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).
• 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 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.

What Can You Do With a Visual Arts Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with visual arts:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
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
Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators	6.8%	$49,380
Graphic Designers	4.2%	$50,370
Multimedia Artists and Animators	8.4%	$72,520

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Visual Arts?

This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 3,794 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in general visual & performing arts in 2021, making it rank #94 in popularity. The major attracts more women than men. About 57% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of visual arts majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	341
Black or African American	439
Hispanic or Latino	806
White	2,093
International Students	136
Other Races/Ethnicities	384

Geographic Diversity

Visual Arts appeals to people across the globe. About 3.2% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Visual Arts

Some degrees associated with visual arts 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.

Find out what the typical degree level is for visual arts careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	5.1%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	9.9%
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)	3.4%
Some College Courses	13.1%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	7.7%
Bachelor’s Degree	34.8%
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.	0.2%
Master’s Degree	16.9%
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.	0.4%
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	8.7%

Online Visual Arts 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)	28	3
Certificate (2-4 Years)	6	0
Associate’s Degree	204	13
Bachelor’s Degree	12	1
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	46	2
Post-Master’s	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	7	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Visual Arts

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to visual arts.

Major	Number of Grads
Fine & Studio Arts	36,332
Design & Applied Arts	36,019
Music	26,167
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	18,531
Drama & Theater Arts	16,853
Arts & Media Management	4,722
Dance	3,233
Other Visual Art	1,026
Crafts, Folk Art & Artisanry	102
Community/Environmental/Socially-Engaged Art	6

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 Sven Mandel / CC-BY-SA-4.0 under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.