Best Agent programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Represent and promote artists, performers, and athletes in dealings with current or prospective employers.
7 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 408 people a year. The job pays a median of $98,110 in California across about 4,860 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in California that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
4 programs in California that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in California (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own California page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 52.0202In California → | 246 | 60.3% | 1 | $43,506 | $25,000 |
| 2 | CIP 50.1001In California → | 156 | 38.2% | 4 | $28,050 | $25,468 |
| 3 | Fine and Studio Arts Managementmain feeder CIP 50.1002In California → | 5 | 1.2% | 1 | $28,050 | $25,468 |
| 4 | CIP 09.0906In California → | 1 | 0.2% | 1 | $39,658 | $24,500 |
Top 7 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 7 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 246 | Purchasing, Procurement/Acquisitions and Contracts Management | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | Los Angeles Film School Hollywood, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 109 | Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management, General | $18,706 | 41% | $32,792 | — |
| 3 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management, General | $26,975 | 92% | $26,873 | 10% |
| 4 | Pepperdine University Malibu, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management, General | — | 83% | $41,986 | 63% |
| 5 | Claremont Graduate University Claremont, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Fine and Studio Arts Management | — | — | — | — |
| 6 | National University San Diego, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management, General | — | 43% | $31,817 | — |
| 7 | California Lutheran University Thousand Oaks, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Sports Communication | — | 70% | $23,129 | 76% |
All 7 schools in California
Every school in California with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Naval Postgraduate School | Monterey | Public | 246 | 1 |
| Los Angeles Film School | Hollywood | Private for-profit | 109 | 1 |
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 27 | 1 |
| Pepperdine University | Malibu | Private not-for-profit | 17 | 1 |
| Claremont Graduate University | Claremont | Private not-for-profit | 5 | 1 |
| National University | San Diego | Private not-for-profit | 3 | 1 |
| California Lutheran University | Thousand Oaks | Private not-for-profit | 1 | 1 |
What agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $82,890. California pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: California employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in California
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes page.
How to become a Agent
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- Work experience needed
- Less than 5 years
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in California
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 5 majors mapped to Agents and Business Managers of Artists, Performers, and Athletes5 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 09.0906Sports Communication
- 50.1001Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management, General
- 50.1002Fine and Studio Arts Management
- 50.1099Arts, Entertainment, and Media Management, Other
- 52.0202Purchasing, Procurement/Acquisitions and Contracts Management
Common questions
Answers for people weighing agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes programs in California.
What degree do you need to become an Agent?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Purchasing, Procurement/Acquisitions and Contracts Management, which awarded 246 degrees in California in 2024-25, 60.3% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Agent?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Business Administration, Arts, Public Relations. Together they graduate about 408 people a year in California.
How much do agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes earn in California?+
The median is $98,110 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 18.4% above the U.S. median of $82,890. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes growing?+
BLS projects a +8.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 2,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
7 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 4 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do agents and business managers of artists, performers, and athletes work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Agent, Talent Agent, Booking Agent, Theatrical Agent among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 13-1011.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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