Best Art programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Teach courses in drama, music, and the arts including fine and applied art, such as painting and sculpture, or design and crafts.
207 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 22,562 people a year. The job pays a median of $99,410 in California across about 9,820 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.
57 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 50.0701In California → | 5,334 | 23.6% | 148 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 2 | CIP 50.0602In California → | 2,113 | 9.4% | 50 | $25,014 | $24,650 |
| 3 | CIP 50.0501In California → | 1,884 | 8.4% | 121 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
| 4 | CIP 50.0409In California → | 1,647 | 7.3% | 76 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 5 | CIP 50.0601In California → | 1,559 | 6.9% | 42 | $25,014 | $24,650 |
| 6 | CIP 50.0702In California → | 1,547 | 6.9% | 44 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 7 | CIP 50.0101In California → | 1,032 | 4.6% | 99 | $24,752 | $25,963 |
| 8 | CIP 50.0903In California → | 782 | 3.5% | 26 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 9 | CIP 50.0401In California → | 591 | 2.6% | 16 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 10 | CIP 50.0301In California → | 479 | 2.1% | 62 | $21,877 | $25,000 |
| 11 | CIP 50.0703In California → | 434 | 1.9% | 32 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 12 | CIP 50.0913In California → | 419 | 1.9% | 7 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 13 | CIP 50.0504In California → | 402 | 1.8% | 13 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
| 14 | CIP 50.0506In California → | 402 | 1.8% | 9 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
| 15 | CIP 50.0407In California → | 349 | 1.5% | 24 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 16 | CIP 50.0502In California → | 329 | 1.5% | 40 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
| 17 | CIP 50.0904In California → | 315 | 1.4% | 18 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 18 | CIP 50.0102In California → | 311 | 1.4% | 10 | $24,752 | $25,963 |
| 19 | CIP 50.0410In California → | 305 | 1.4% | 6 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 20 | CIP 50.0713In California → | 281 | 1.2% | 5 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 21 | CIP 50.0605In California → | 274 | 1.2% | 30 | $25,014 | $24,650 |
| 22 | CIP 50.0699In California → | 213 | 0.9% | 2 | $25,014 | $24,650 |
| 23 | CIP 50.0404In California → | 202 | 0.9% | 7 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 24 | CIP 50.1001In California → | 156 | 0.7% | 4 | $28,050 | $25,468 |
| 25 | CIP 50.1003In California → | 145 | 0.6% | 6 | $28,050 | $25,468 |
| 26 | CIP 50.0999In California → | 136 | 0.6% | 8 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 27 | CIP 50.0799In California → | 95 | 0.4% | 5 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 28 | Visual and Performing Arts, Othermain feeder CIP 50.9999In California → | 90 | 0.4% | 13 | $24,229 | $25,000 |
| 29 | CIP 50.0908In California → | 87 | 0.4% | 6 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 30 | CIP 50.0911In California → | 75 | 0.3% | 5 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 31 | CIP 50.0399In California → | 62 | 0.3% | 13 | $21,877 | $25,000 |
| 32 | CIP 50.0910In California → | 62 | 0.3% | 4 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 33 | CIP 13.1312In California → | 55 | 0.2% | 8 | $43,033 | $26,044 |
| 34 | CIP 50.0907In California → | 51 | 0.2% | 6 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 35 | CIP 50.0509In California → | 45 | 0.2% | 6 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
| 36 | CIP 50.0711In California → | 44 | 0.2% | 15 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 37 | CIP 50.0705In California → | 40 | 0.2% | 16 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 38 | CIP 50.0905In California → | 38 | 0.2% | 3 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 39 | CIP 50.0915In California → | 28 | 0.1% | 3 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 40 | CIP 50.0914In California → | 25 | 0.1% | 2 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 41 | CIP 50.0706In California → | 23 | 0.1% | 3 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 42 | CIP 13.1302In California → | 12 | 0.1% | 4 | $43,033 | $26,044 |
| 43 | CIP 50.0607In California → | 12 | 0.1% | 3 | $25,014 | $24,650 |
| 44 | CIP 50.0599In California → | 11 | 0.0% | 3 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
| 45 | CIP 50.0507In California → | 9 | 0.0% | 3 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
| 46 | CIP 50.0708In California → | 9 | 0.0% | 1 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 47 | CIP 50.0916In California → | 9 | 0.0% | 3 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 48 | CIP 50.0912In California → | 7 | 0.0% | 2 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 49 | CIP 50.1004In California → | 6 | 0.0% | 3 | $28,050 | $25,468 |
| 50 | CIP 50.1002In California → | 5 | 0.0% | 1 | $28,050 | $25,468 |
| 51 | CIP 13.1324In California → | 4 | 0.0% | 1 | $43,033 | $26,044 |
| 52 | CIP 50.0510In California → | 4 | 0.0% | 1 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
| 53 | CIP 50.0906In California → | 4 | 0.0% | 2 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 54 | CIP 50.0710In California → | 3 | 0.0% | 1 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 55 | CIP 50.0712In California → | 3 | 0.0% | 1 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 56 | CIP 50.0709In California → | 2 | 0.0% | 1 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 57 | CIP 50.0406In California → | 1 | 0.0% | 1 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
Top 25 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 47 of the 207 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 28 feeder programs | 1,034 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | $34,187 | 92% | $26,873 | 10% |
| 2 | Los Angeles Film School Hollywood, CA Private for-profit · 7 feeder programs | 970 | Music Technology | $21,399 | 41% | $32,792 | — |
| 3 | California State University - Long Beach Long Beach, CA Public · 9 feeder programs | 740 | Art/Art Studies, General | $21,493 | 69% | — | 46% |
| 4 | California State University - Fullerton Fullerton, CA Public · 8 feeder programs | 733 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $22,839 | 70% | — | 91% |
| 5 | Santa Monica College Santa Monica, CA Public · 11 feeder programs | 601 | Art/Art Studies, General | — | 36% | — | — |
| 6 | California State University - Northridge Northridge, CA Public · 7 feeder programs | 547 | Art/Art Studies, General | $25,359 | 57% | — | 93% |
| 7 | San Diego State University San Diego, CA Public · 7 feeder programs | 479 | Art/Art Studies, General | $23,186 | 76% | — | 36% |
| 8 | University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 12 feeder programs | 468 | Film/Cinema/Media Studies | $29,696 | 93% | — | 9% |
| 9 | San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA Public · 10 feeder programs | 456 | Film/Cinema/Media Studies | $18,654 | 50% | — | 96% |
| 10 | New York Film Academy Burbank, CA Private for-profit · 6 feeder programs | 455 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | $17,109 | 68% | $46,505 | — |
| 11 | Chapman University Orange, CA Private not-for-profit · 16 feeder programs | 451 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | $35,795 | 82% | $42,965 | 65% |
| 12 | University of California - Davis Davis, CA Public · 8 feeder programs | 449 | Design and Visual Communications, General | $32,816 | 86% | — | 42% |
| 13 | University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA Public · 9 feeder programs | 445 | Film/Cinema/Media Studies | $21,397 | 87% | — | 29% |
| 14 | Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 8 feeder programs | 415 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | $24,561 | 79% | $36,488 | 45% |
| 15 | Academy of Art University San Francisco, CA Private for-profit · 13 feeder programs | 389 | Illustration | $20,829 | 34% | $40,294 | — |
| 16 | San Jose State University San Jose, CA Public · 11 feeder programs | 338 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 69% | — | 85% |
| 17 | University of California - Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA Public · 7 feeder programs | 326 | Film/Cinema/Media Studies | $28,608 | 83% | — | 33% |
| 18 | University of California - Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA Public · 10 feeder programs | 321 | Film/Video and Photographic Arts, Other | $23,614 | 75% | — | 66% |
| 19 | Art Center College of Design Pasadena, CA Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 307 | Illustration | $47,053 | 79% | $48,578 | 75% |
| 20 | California State University - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 5 feeder programs | 299 | Art/Art Studies, General | $24,538 | 53% | — | 91% |
| 21 | University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA Public · 5 feeder programs | 299 | Film/Cinema/Media Studies | $29,011 | 93% | — | 11% |
| 22 | California Institute of the Arts Valencia, CA Private not-for-profit · 14 feeder programs | 283 | Acting | $22,673 | 67% | $42,045 | 32% |
| 23 | California State University - Sacramento Sacramento, CA Public · 8 feeder programs | 283 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | $24,618 | 56% | — | 94% |
| 24 | University of California - Riverside Riverside, CA Public · 8 feeder programs | 277 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | $24,840 | 76% | — | 76% |
| 25 | Otis College of Art and Design Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 7 feeder programs | 266 | Digital Arts | $21,558 | 66% | $44,867 | 82% |
All 207 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 1,034 | 28 |
| Los Angeles Film School | Hollywood | Private for-profit | 970 | 7 |
| California State University - Long Beach | Long Beach | Public | 740 | 9 |
| California State University - Fullerton | Fullerton | Public | 733 | 8 |
| Santa Monica College | Santa Monica | Public | 601 | 11 |
| California State University - Northridge | Northridge | Public | 547 | 7 |
| San Diego State University | San Diego | Public | 479 | 7 |
| University of California - Los Angeles | Los Angeles | Public | 468 | 12 |
| San Francisco State University | San Francisco | Public | 456 | 10 |
| New York Film Academy | Burbank | Private for-profit | 455 | 6 |
| Chapman University | Orange | Private not-for-profit | 451 | 16 |
| University of California - Davis | Davis | Public | 449 | 8 |
| University of California - Irvine | Irvine | Public | 445 | 9 |
| Loyola Marymount University | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 415 | 8 |
| Academy of Art University | San Francisco | Private for-profit | 389 | 13 |
What art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $78,620. California pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
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, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary page.
How to become a Art
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Master's degree
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or 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 25 majors mapped to Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary25 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 13.1302Art Teacher Education
- 13.1312Music Teacher Education
- 13.1324Drama and Dance Teacher Education
- 50.0101Visual and Performing Arts, General
- 50.0102Digital Arts
- 50.0201Crafts/Craft Design, Folk Art and Artisanry
- 50.0301Dance, General
- 50.0302Ballet
- 50.0399Dance, Other
- 50.0401Design and Visual Communications, General
- 50.0404Industrial and Product Design
- 50.0406Commercial Photography
- 50.0407Fashion/Apparel Design
- 50.0409Graphic Design
- 50.0410Illustration
- 50.0501Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General
- 50.0502Technical Theatre/Theatre Design and Technology
- 50.0504Playwriting and Screenwriting
- 50.0505Theatre Literature, History and Criticism
- 50.0506Acting
- 50.0507Directing and Theatrical Production
- 50.0509Musical Theatre
- 50.0510Costume Design
- 50.0511Comedy Writing and Performance
- 50.0512Theatre and Dance
Common questions
Answers for people weighing art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary programs in California.
What degree do you need to become an Art?+
Master's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Art/Art Studies, General, which awarded 5,334 degrees in California in 2024-25, 23.6% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Art?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 57 programs to this occupation. The largest are Fine and Studio Arts, Film/Video and Photographic Arts, Design and Applied Arts, Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft, plus 6 more. Together they graduate about 22,562 people a year in California.
How much do art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary earn in California?+
The median is $99,410 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 26.4% above the U.S. median of $78,620. 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, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary growing?+
BLS projects a +1.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 9,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
207 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 57 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, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Professor, Art Professor, Music Professor, Theater Professor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-1121.
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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