Georgia·Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations·SOC 27-1011

Best Art Director programs in Georgia, ranked by enrollment

Formulate design concepts and presentation approaches for visual productions and media, such as print, broadcasting, video, and film.

12 schools in Georgia run programs that feed this job, graduating 190 people a year. The job pays a median of $110,430 in Georgia across about 1,420 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledArt DirectorDesign DirectorCreative Services DirectorCreative Director (CD Director)Art ManagerArt SupervisorDesign ManagerArt Coordinator
Graduates / yr
190
in Georgia
Median pay · Georgia
$110,430
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,420
people employed
Schools
12
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
43%
across those schools
Median net price
$18,959
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Georgia that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

3 programs in Georgia that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Georgia (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 Georgia page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 50.0409In Georgia
87
45.8%
8$31,611$26,000
2
CIP 50.0102In Georgia
84
44.2%
2$24,752$25,963
3
CIP 50.0706In Georgia
19
10.0%
2$24,447$25,294

Top 12 schools in Georgia

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 3 of the 12 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Kennesaw State University
Kennesaw, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
81Digital Arts$27,63652%69%
2Georgia Southern University
Statesboro, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
33Graphic Design$39,35555%88%
3Augusta University
Augusta, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
17Intermedia/Multimedia$16,94349%86%
4Augusta Technical College
Augusta, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
11Graphic Design31%
5Mercer University
Macon, GA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
11Graphic Design70%$22,64169%
6Atlanta Technical College
Atlanta, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
8Graphic Design49%
7Wiregrass Georgia Technical College
Valdosta, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
8Graphic Design50%
8Albany Technical College
Albany, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
7Graphic Design42%
9Lanier Technical College
Gainesville, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
6Graphic Design34%
10Atlanta Metropolitan State College
Atlanta, GA Public · 1 feeder programs
3Digital Arts17%
11Young Harris College
Young Harris, GA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
3Graphic Design42%$10,83263%
12Thomas University
Thomasville, GA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Intermedia/Multimedia28%$18,95938%

All 12 schools in Georgia

Every school in Georgia 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.

All schools in Georgia that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Kennesaw State UniversityKennesawPublic811
Georgia Southern UniversityStatesboroPublic331
Augusta UniversityAugustaPublic171
Augusta Technical CollegeAugustaPublic111
Mercer UniversityMaconPrivate not-for-profit111
Atlanta Technical CollegeAtlantaPublic81
Wiregrass Georgia Technical CollegeValdostaPublic81
Albany Technical CollegeAlbanyPublic71
Lanier Technical CollegeGainesvillePublic61
Atlanta Metropolitan State CollegeAtlantaPublic31
Young Harris CollegeYoung HarrisPrivate not-for-profit31
Thomas UniversityThomasvillePrivate not-for-profit21

What art directors earn in Georgia

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Georgia
$110,430
Mean annual
$117,070
Jobs in state
1,420
What the range looks like
10th pct$49,990Median$110,43090th pct$198,360
Versus the national median
-3.8%

U.S. median $114,850. Georgia pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.85×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Georgia

Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
$111,480median
1,190 jobs
Savannah, GA
$117,650median
40 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+4.2%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
12,300
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
5,700
135,000 → 140,700
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

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

Active ListeningSpeakingReading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingWritingMonitoring

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Georgia

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 Georgia.

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 87 degrees in Georgia in 2024-25, 45.8% 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 190 people a year in Georgia.

How much do art directors earn in Georgia?+

The median is $110,430 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 3.8% below 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 Georgia?+

12 institutions in Georgia 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 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected 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 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, 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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