Best Art Director programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Formulate design concepts and presentation approaches for visual productions and media, such as print, broadcasting, video, and film.
84 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,981 people a year. The job pays a median of $137,780 in California across about 12,430 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.
3 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 50.0409In California → | 1,647 | 83.1% | 76 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 2 | CIP 50.0102In California → | 311 | 15.7% | 10 | $24,752 | $25,963 |
| 3 | CIP 50.0706In California → | 23 | 1.2% | 3 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
Top 25 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 11 of the 84 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Otis College of Art and Design Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 159 | Digital Arts | $21,558 | 66% | $44,867 | 82% |
| 2 | Santa Monica College Santa Monica, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 140 | Graphic Design | — | 36% | — | — |
| 3 | Sierra College Rocklin, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 102 | Graphic Design | — | 42% | — | — |
| 4 | California State Polytechnic University - Pomona Pomona, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 100 | Graphic Design | $30,065 | 68% | — | 75% |
| 5 | Art Center College of Design Pasadena, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 82 | Graphic Design | $47,053 | 79% | $48,578 | 75% |
| 6 | San Diego City College San Diego, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 78 | Graphic Design | — | 30% | — | — |
| 7 | Gnomon North Hollywood, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 73 | Digital Arts | — | 100% | $44,138 | 42% |
| 8 | Academy of Art University San Francisco, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 60 | Digital Arts | $28,494 | 34% | $40,294 | — |
| 9 | Foothill College Los Altos Hills, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 55 | Graphic Design | — | 56% | — | — |
| 10 | Los Angeles Film School Hollywood, CA Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 48 | Graphic Design | $26,583 | 41% | $32,792 | — |
| 11 | California State University - Fresno Fresno, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 41 | Graphic Design | $23,160 | 57% | — | 95% |
| 12 | City College of San Francisco San Francisco, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 41 | Graphic Design | — | 40% | — | — |
| 13 | Riverside City College Riverside, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 37 | Graphic Design | — | 37% | — | — |
| 14 | California State University - Sacramento Sacramento, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 36 | Graphic Design | $32,240 | 56% | — | 94% |
| 15 | Cabrillo College Aptos, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 35 | Graphic Design | — | 38% | — | — |
| 16 | Chapman University Orange, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 33 | Graphic Design | $46,519 | 82% | $42,965 | 65% |
| 17 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 32 | Digital Arts | — | 92% | $26,873 | 10% |
| 18 | College of the Canyons Santa Clarita, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Graphic Design | — | 45% | — | — |
| 19 | California Baptist University Riverside, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 28 | Graphic Design | $28,669 | 62% | $26,940 | 85% |
| 20 | Laguna College of Art and Design Laguna Beach, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 28 | Graphic Design | $27,785 | 52% | $41,341 | 94% |
| 21 | De Anza College Cupertino, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Graphic Design | — | 68% | — | — |
| 22 | Orange Coast College Costa Mesa, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Graphic Design | — | 48% | — | — |
| 23 | Pasadena City College Pasadena, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 25 | Graphic Design | — | 48% | — | — |
| 24 | Fresno City College Fresno, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Graphic Design | — | 24% | — | — |
| 25 | San Jose State University San Jose, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 24 | Graphic Design | — | 69% | — | 85% |
All 84 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Otis College of Art and Design | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 159 | 2 |
| Santa Monica College | Santa Monica | Public | 140 | 1 |
| Sierra College | Rocklin | Public | 102 | 1 |
| California State Polytechnic University - Pomona | Pomona | Public | 100 | 1 |
| Art Center College of Design | Pasadena | Private not-for-profit | 82 | 1 |
| San Diego City College | San Diego | Public | 78 | 1 |
| Gnomon | North Hollywood | Private for-profit | 73 | 1 |
| Academy of Art University | San Francisco | Private for-profit | 60 | 1 |
| Foothill College | Los Altos Hills | Public | 55 | 1 |
| Los Angeles Film School | Hollywood | Private for-profit | 48 | 1 |
| California State University - Fresno | Fresno | Public | 41 | 1 |
| City College of San Francisco | San Francisco | Public | 41 | 1 |
| Riverside City College | Riverside | Public | 37 | 1 |
| California State University - Sacramento | Sacramento | Public | 36 | 1 |
| Cabrillo College | Aptos | Public | 35 | 1 |
What art directors earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $114,850. 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 Art Directors page.
How to become a Art Director
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- Work experience needed
- 5 years or more
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 3 majors mapped to Art Directors3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 50.0102Digital Arts
- 50.0409Graphic Design
- 50.0706Intermedia/Multimedia
Common questions
Answers for people weighing art directors programs in California.
What degree do you need to become an Art Director?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Graphic Design, which awarded 1,647 degrees in California in 2024-25, 83.1% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Art Director?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Design and Applied Arts, Visual and Performing Arts, Fine and Studio Arts. Together they graduate about 1,981 people a year in California.
How much do art directors earn in California?+
The median is $137,780 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 20.0% above the U.S. median of $114,850. 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 art directors growing?+
BLS projects a +4.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 12,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
84 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 3 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 art directors work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Art Director, Design Director, Creative Services Director, Creative Director (CD Director) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-1011.
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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