Best Artist programs in Massachusetts, ranked by enrollment
All artists and related workers not listed.
44 schools in Massachusetts run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,006 people a year. The job pays a median of $94,890 in Massachusetts across about 50 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Massachusetts that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
8 programs in Massachusetts that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Massachusetts (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 Massachusetts page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 50.0409In Massachusetts → | 366 | 36.4% | 22 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 2 | CIP 50.0702In Massachusetts → | 250 | 24.9% | 23 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 3 | CIP 50.0410In Massachusetts → | 133 | 13.2% | 5 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 4 | CIP 50.0102In Massachusetts → | 96 | 9.5% | 6 | $24,752 | $25,963 |
| 5 | CIP 50.0101In Massachusetts → | 71 | 7.1% | 8 | $24,752 | $25,963 |
| 6 | CIP 50.0402In Massachusetts → | 45 | 4.5% | 5 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 7 | CIP 50.0799In Massachusetts → | 42 | 4.2% | 4 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 8 | CIP 50.0201In Massachusetts → | 3 | 0.3% | 2 | $25,027 | $27,000 |
Top 25 schools in Massachusetts
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 16 of the 44 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts College of Art and Design Boston, MA Public · 4 feeder programs | 129 | Illustration | $24,706 | 69% | — | 76% |
| 2 | Harvard University Cambridge, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 85 | Digital Arts | — | 98% | $15,013 | 4% |
| 3 | Northeastern University Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 84 | Graphic Design | $49,727 | 91% | $18,925 | 5% |
| 4 | Lesley University Cambridge, MA Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 80 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 58% | $30,837 | 97% |
| 5 | Boston University Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 79 | Graphic Design | $49,254 | 89% | $21,956 | 11% |
| 6 | University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth North Dartmouth, MA Public · 4 feeder programs | 52 | Graphic Design | $29,660 | 52% | — | 91% |
| 7 | University of Massachusetts - Lowell Lowell, MA Public · 2 feeder programs | 49 | Graphic Design | $41,020 | 65% | — | 83% |
| 8 | University of Massachusetts - Amherst Amherst, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 47 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $18,072 | 83% | — | 60% |
| 9 | Bridgewater State University Bridgewater, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 34 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $29,595 | 53% | — | 88% |
| 10 | Middlesex Community College Bedford, MA Public · 3 feeder programs | 26 | Commercial and Advertising Art | — | 23% | — | — |
| 11 | Montserrat College of Art Beverly, MA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 26 | Illustration | $19,865 | 53% | $34,176 | — |
| 12 | Suffolk University Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 25 | Graphic Design | $47,415 | 61% | $28,895 | 82% |
| 13 | Bristol Community College Fall River, MA Public · 2 feeder programs | 19 | Graphic Design | — | 22% | — | — |
| 14 | Holyoke Community College Holyoke, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Graphic Design | — | 29% | — | — |
| 15 | Springfield Technical Community College Springfield, MA Public · 2 feeder programs | 17 | Commercial and Advertising Art | — | 32% | — | — |
| 16 | Emmanuel College Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 16 | Graphic Design | $32,413 | 68% | $29,723 | 76% |
| 17 | Clark University Worcester, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 77% | $23,332 | 40% |
| 18 | Endicott College Beverly, MA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 14 | Graphic Design | $39,271 | 76% | $34,195 | 71% |
| 19 | Salem State University Salem, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Commercial and Advertising Art | — | 50% | — | 96% |
| 20 | Smith College Northampton, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $20,171 | 89% | $17,183 | 21% |
| 21 | Mount Holyoke College South Hadley, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $18,420 | 84% | $26,083 | 36% |
| 22 | Berkshire Community College Pittsfield, MA Public · 2 feeder programs | 12 | Visual and Performing Arts, General | — | 20% | — | — |
| 23 | Bunker Hill Community College Boston, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Fine Arts and Art Studies, Other | — | 13% | — | — |
| 24 | Wheaton College (Massachusetts) Norton, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $28,574 | 73% | $26,445 | 68% |
| 25 | Massasoit Community College Brockton, MA Public · 2 feeder programs | 11 | Graphic Design | — | 19% | — | — |
All 44 schools in Massachusetts
Every school in Massachusetts 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts College of Art and Design | Boston | Public | 129 | 4 |
| Harvard University | Cambridge | Private not-for-profit | 85 | 2 |
| Northeastern University | Boston | Private not-for-profit | 84 | 3 |
| Lesley University | Cambridge | Private not-for-profit | 80 | 4 |
| Boston University | Boston | Private not-for-profit | 79 | 4 |
| University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth | North Dartmouth | Public | 52 | 4 |
| University of Massachusetts - Lowell | Lowell | Public | 49 | 2 |
| University of Massachusetts - Amherst | Amherst | Public | 47 | 1 |
| Bridgewater State University | Bridgewater | Public | 34 | 1 |
| Middlesex Community College | Bedford | Public | 26 | 3 |
| Montserrat College of Art | Beverly | Private not-for-profit | 26 | 3 |
| Suffolk University | Boston | Private not-for-profit | 25 | 2 |
| Bristol Community College | Fall River | Public | 19 | 2 |
| Holyoke Community College | Holyoke | Public | 17 | 1 |
| Springfield Technical Community College | Springfield | Public | 17 | 2 |
What artists and related workers, all other earn in Massachusetts
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $71,240. Massachusetts pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Massachusetts
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 Massachusetts
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 Massachusetts.
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 Graphic Design, which awarded 366 degrees in Massachusetts in 2024-25, 36.4% 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 8 programs to this occupation. The largest are Design and Applied Arts, Fine and Studio Arts, Visual and Performing Arts, Crafts/Craft Design. Together they graduate about 1,006 people a year in Massachusetts.
How much do artists and related workers, all other earn in Massachusetts?+
The median is $94,890 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 33.2% above 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 Massachusetts?+
44 institutions in Massachusetts reported graduates from at least one of the 8 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
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