Best programs to become a curator in Iowa
6 Iowa schools offer programs that train curators, graduating 59 people a year. Curators in Iowa earn a median of $53,830 across about 230 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
BLS lists a master's degree as the typical entry-level education for curators. The fields of study that lead most directly to this job in Iowa are Museology/Museum Studies, as well as Art History, Criticism and Conservation (IPEDS completions).
Administer collections, such as artwork, collectibles, historic items, or scientific specimens of museums or other institutions.
2 programs in Iowa that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Iowa (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 Iowa page.
Top 6 schools in Iowa
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 6 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Iowa Iowa City, IA Public · 2 feeder programs | 45 | Museology/Museum Studies | — | 75% | — | 84% |
| 2 | Saint Ambrose University Davenport, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder program | 5 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | — | 61% | $21,680 | 77% |
| 3 | Grinnell College Grinnell, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder program | 4 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $20,111 | 88% | $14,470 | 15% |
| 4 | Cornell College Mount Vernon, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder program | 2 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | — | 62% | $23,073 | 80% |
| 5 | University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, IA Public · 1 feeder program | 2 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $24,095 | 68% | — | 93% |
| 6 | Drake University Des Moines, IA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder program | 1 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | — | 74% | $28,855 | 64% |
All 6 schools in Iowa
Every school in Iowa 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 Iowa | Iowa City | Public | 45 | 2 |
| Saint Ambrose University | Davenport | Private not-for-profit | 5 | 1 |
| Grinnell College | Grinnell | Private not-for-profit | 4 | 1 |
| Cornell College | Mount Vernon | Private not-for-profit | 2 | 1 |
| University of Northern Iowa | Cedar Falls | Public | 2 | 1 |
| Drake University | Des Moines | Private not-for-profit | 1 | 1 |
Fields of study in Iowa that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
What curators earn in Iowa
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $63,420. Iowa pays below the national figure.
Concentrated here: Iowa employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Iowa
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 and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Curators page.
How to become a curator
- Typical entry education
- Master's degree
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Iowa
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 6 majors mapped to Curators5 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 30.1401Museology/Museum Studies
- 30.5201Digital Humanities and Textual Studies, General
- 30.5202Digital Humanities
- 30.5203Textual Studies(no graduates reported)
- 50.0703Art History, Criticism and Conservation
- 54.0105Public/Applied History
Common questions
Answers for people weighing curators programs in Iowa.
What degree do you need to become a curator?+
BLS lists a master's degree as the typical entry-level education for curators. The fields of study that lead most directly to this job in Iowa are Museology/Museum Studies, as well as Art History, Criticism and Conservation (IPEDS completions).
Which college majors lead to becoming a curator?+
The fields of study that lead most directly to this job in Iowa are Museology/Museum Studies, as well as Art History, Criticism and Conservation (IPEDS completions). In all, 2 feeder programs graduate about 59 people a year in Iowa (IPEDS completions).
How much do curators earn in Iowa?+
The median is $53,830 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 15.1% below the U.S. median of $63,420. 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 curators growing?+
BLS projects a +7.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 1,800 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Iowa?+
6 institutions in Iowa reported graduates from at least one of the 2 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 curators work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Curator, Museum Curator, Collections Curator, Collections Manager among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-4012.
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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