Best Artist programs in Colorado, ranked by enrollment
All artists and related workers not listed.
25 schools in Colorado run programs that feed this job, graduating 844 people a year. The job pays a median of $69,860 in Colorado across about — jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Colorado that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
6 programs in Colorado that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Colorado (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 Colorado page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 50.0702In Colorado → | 426 | 50.5% | 16 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 2 | CIP 50.0409In Colorado → | 248 | 29.4% | 12 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 3 | CIP 50.0410In Colorado → | 90 | 10.7% | 1 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 4 | CIP 50.0101In Colorado → | 39 | 4.6% | 1 | $24,752 | $25,963 |
| 5 | CIP 50.0102In Colorado → | 36 | 4.3% | 3 | $24,752 | $25,963 |
| 6 | CIP 50.0799In Colorado → | 5 | 0.6% | 1 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
Top 25 schools in Colorado
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 11 of the 25 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colorado State University - Fort Collins Fort Collins, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 110 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $30,143 | 67% | — | 89% |
| 2 | Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design Lakewood, CO Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 97 | Illustration | $29,829 | 32% | $28,500 | — |
| 3 | Front Range Community College Westminster, CO Public · 3 feeder programs | 79 | Graphic Design | $21,397 | 35% | — | — |
| 4 | University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Denver, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 76 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $31,144 | 46% | — | 75% |
| 5 | University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 68 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $17,501 | 74% | — | 78% |
| 6 | Aims Community College Greeley, CO Public · 2 feeder programs | 48 | Graphic Design | — | 40% | — | — |
| 7 | University of Northern Colorado Greeley, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 44 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $30,663 | 51% | — | 86% |
| 8 | Pikes Peak State College Colorado Springs, CO Public · 3 feeder programs | 43 | Graphic Design | — | 21% | — | — |
| 9 | University of Colorado Colorado Springs Colorado Springs, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 39 | Visual and Performing Arts, General | $30,966 | 47% | — | 97% |
| 10 | Community College of Denver Denver, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 37 | Graphic Design | — | 20% | — | — |
| 11 | Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 34 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $26,102 | 32% | — | 99% |
| 12 | Arapahoe Community College Littleton, CO Public · 2 feeder programs | 30 | Graphic Design | $32,100 | 29% | — | — |
| 13 | Fort Lewis College Durango, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $22,754 | 36% | — | 77% |
| 14 | University of Denver Denver, CO Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 21 | Graphic Design | $31,104 | 76% | $29,726 | 78% |
| 15 | Red Rocks Community College Lakewood, CO Public · 2 feeder programs | 14 | Graphic Design | — | 32% | — | — |
| 16 | Colorado College Colorado Springs, CO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 88% | $23,510 | 18% |
| 17 | Colorado Mesa University Grand Junction, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Graphic Design | — | 41% | — | 82% |
| 18 | Pickens Technical College Aurora, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Graphic Design | — | 76% | — | — |
| 19 | Pueblo Community College Pueblo, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Graphic Design | — | 31% | — | — |
| 20 | Western Colorado University Gunnison, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 50% | — | 100% |
| 21 | Colorado Mountain College Glenwood Springs, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Graphic Design | — | 27% | — | — |
| 22 | Morgan Community College Fort Morgan, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Graphic Design | — | 45% | — | — |
| 23 | Adams State University Alamosa, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 39% | — | — |
| 24 | Colorado State University Pueblo Pueblo, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 40% | — | 95% |
| 25 | Otero College La Junta, CO Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 38% | — | — |
All 25 schools in Colorado
Every school in Colorado 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado State University - Fort Collins | Fort Collins | Public | 110 | 1 |
| Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design | Lakewood | Private for-profit | 97 | 2 |
| Front Range Community College | Westminster | Public | 79 | 3 |
| University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus | Denver | Public | 76 | 1 |
| University of Colorado Boulder | Boulder | Public | 68 | 1 |
| Aims Community College | Greeley | Public | 48 | 2 |
| University of Northern Colorado | Greeley | Public | 44 | 1 |
| Pikes Peak State College | Colorado Springs | Public | 43 | 3 |
| University of Colorado Colorado Springs | Colorado Springs | Public | 39 | 1 |
| Community College of Denver | Denver | Public | 37 | 1 |
| Metropolitan State University of Denver | Denver | Public | 34 | 1 |
| Arapahoe Community College | Littleton | Public | 30 | 2 |
| Fort Lewis College | Durango | Public | 24 | 1 |
| University of Denver | Denver | Private not-for-profit | 21 | 2 |
| Red Rocks Community College | Lakewood | Public | 14 | 2 |
What artists and related workers, all other earn in Colorado
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $71,240. Colorado pays below the national figure.
Metro areas in Colorado
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 Artists and Related Workers, All Other page.
How to become a Artist
- Typical entry education
- No formal educational credential
- On-the-job training
- Long-term on-the-job training
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Colorado
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 9 majors mapped to Artists and Related Workers, All Other9 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 50.0101Visual and Performing Arts, General
- 50.0102Digital Arts
- 50.0201Crafts/Craft Design, Folk Art and Artisanry
- 50.0402Commercial and Advertising Art
- 50.0409Graphic Design
- 50.0410Illustration
- 50.0702Fine/Studio Arts, General
- 50.0799Fine Arts and Art Studies, Other
- 50.1101Community/Environmental/Socially-Engaged Art
Common questions
Answers for people weighing artists and related workers, all other programs in Colorado.
What degree do you need to become an Artist?+
No formal educational credential is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Fine/Studio Arts, General, which awarded 426 degrees in Colorado in 2024-25, 50.5% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Artist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 6 programs to this occupation. The largest are Fine and Studio Arts, Design and Applied Arts, Visual and Performing Arts. Together they graduate about 844 people a year in Colorado.
How much do artists and related workers, all other earn in Colorado?+
The median is $69,860 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 1.9% below the U.S. median of $71,240. 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 artists and related workers, all other growing?+
BLS projects a +0.8% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 1,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Colorado?+
25 institutions in Colorado reported graduates from at least one of the 6 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.
Do you need training or experience beyond a degree?+
BLS lists 'None' for related work experience and 'Long-term on-the-job training' for on-the-job training typically needed to reach competency.
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
Explore every U.S. college in one conversation
Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card