Best programs to become a prepress technician in Maryland
1 Maryland school offers programs that train prepress technicians and workers, graduating 73 people a year. Prepress technicians and workers in Maryland earn a median of $60,770 across about 480 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
You do not need a college degree to become a prepress technician. The field of study that leads most directly to this job in Maryland is Graphic Communications (IPEDS completions). BLS lists a postsecondary nondegree award (a certificate) as the typical entry-level education.
Format and proof text and images submitted by designers and clients into finished pages that can be printed. Includes digital and photo typesetting.
1 program in Maryland that leads to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Maryland (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 Maryland page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 10.0301In Maryland → | 73 | 100.0% | 1 | $25,121 | $26,958 |
Top 1 schools in Maryland
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 1 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Maryland Global Campus Adelphi, MD Public · 1 feeder program | 73 | Graphic Communications, General | $46,581 | 33% | — | — |
All 1 schools in Maryland
Every school in Maryland 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 Maryland Global Campus | Adelphi | Public | 73 | 1 |
Fields of study in Maryland that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
What prepress technicians and workers earn in Maryland
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $48,690. Maryland pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Maryland
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 Prepress Technicians and Workers page.
How to become a prepress technician
- Typical entry education
- Postsecondary nondegree award
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Maryland
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 8 majors mapped to Prepress Technicians and Workers8 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 10.0301Graphic Communications, General
- 10.0302Printing Management
- 10.0303Prepress/Desktop Publishing and Digital Imaging Design
- 10.0305Graphic and Printing Equipment Operator, General Production
- 10.0306Platemaker/Imager
- 10.0307Printing Press Operator
- 10.0308Computer Typography and Composition Equipment Operator
- 10.0399Graphic Communications, Other
Common questions
Answers for people weighing prepress technicians and workers programs in Maryland.
What degree do you need to become a prepress technician?+
You do not need a college degree to become a prepress technician. The field of study that leads most directly to this job in Maryland is Graphic Communications (IPEDS completions). BLS lists a postsecondary nondegree award (a certificate) as the typical entry-level education.
Which college majors lead to becoming a prepress technician?+
The field of study that leads most directly to this job in Maryland is Graphic Communications (IPEDS completions). In all, 1 feeder program graduates about 73 people a year in Maryland (IPEDS completions).
How much do prepress technicians and workers earn in Maryland?+
The median is $60,770 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 24.8% above the U.S. median of $48,690. 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 prepress technicians and workers growing?+
BLS projects a -14.6% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 2,800 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Maryland?+
1 institutions in Maryland reported graduates from at least one of the 1 program 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 prepress technicians and workers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Plate Maker, Prepress Operator, Prepress Technician, Electronic Prepress Operator (EPP Operator) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 51-5111.
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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