Best Special Effects Artist programs in Massachusetts, ranked by enrollment
Create special effects or animations using film, video, computers, or other electronic tools and media for use in products, such as computer games, movies, music videos, and.
35 schools in Massachusetts run programs that feed this job, graduating 773 people a year. The job pays a median of $80,640 in Massachusetts across about — 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 | 47.3% | 22 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 2 | CIP 10.0304In Massachusetts → | 142 | 18.4% | 6 | $25,121 | $26,958 |
| 3 | CIP 50.0102In Massachusetts → | 96 | 12.4% | 6 | $24,752 | $25,963 |
| 4 | CIP 50.0411In Massachusetts → | 68 | 8.8% | 6 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 5 | CIP 50.0708In Massachusetts → | 46 | 6.0% | 5 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 6 | CIP 50.0706In Massachusetts → | 29 | 3.8% | 2 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 7 | CIP 11.0801In Massachusetts → | 24 | 3.1% | 7 | $33,504 | $27,000 |
| 8 | CIP 50.0705In Massachusetts → | 2 | 0.3% | 1 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
Top 25 schools in Massachusetts
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 13 of the 35 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northeastern University Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 140 | Graphic Design | $49,727 | 91% | $18,925 | 5% |
| 2 | Boston University Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 92 | Graphic Design | $49,254 | 89% | $21,956 | 11% |
| 3 | Massachusetts College of Art and Design Boston, MA Public · 3 feeder programs | 67 | Graphic Design | $24,706 | 69% | — | 76% |
| 4 | Clark University Worcester, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 45 | Animation, Interactive Technology, Video Graphics, and Special Effects | — | 77% | $23,332 | 40% |
| 5 | Lesley University Cambridge, MA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 45 | Digital Arts | $20,600 | 58% | $30,837 | 97% |
| 6 | Harvard University Cambridge, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 43 | Digital Arts | — | 98% | $15,013 | 4% |
| 7 | University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth North Dartmouth, MA Public · 4 feeder programs | 39 | Graphic Design | $29,660 | 52% | — | 91% |
| 8 | Montserrat College of Art Beverly, MA Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 32 | Animation, Interactive Technology, Video Graphics, and Special Effects | — | 53% | $34,176 | — |
| 9 | Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Game and Interactive Media Design | — | 90% | $32,926 | 60% |
| 10 | University of Massachusetts - Lowell Lowell, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Graphic Design | $41,020 | 65% | — | 83% |
| 11 | Bristol Community College Fall River, MA Public · 3 feeder programs | 24 | Graphic Design | — | 22% | — | — |
| 12 | Fitchburg State University Fitchburg, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Game and Interactive Media Design | $29,191 | 55% | — | 87% |
| 13 | Holyoke Community College Holyoke, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Graphic Design | — | 29% | — | — |
| 14 | Suffolk University Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Graphic Design | $47,415 | 61% | $28,895 | 82% |
| 15 | Emmanuel College Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Graphic Design | $32,413 | 68% | $29,723 | 76% |
| 16 | Springfield Technical Community College Springfield, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Animation, Interactive Technology, Video Graphics, and Special Effects | — | 32% | — | — |
| 17 | Assumption University Worcester, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Graphic Design | $28,032 | 75% | $24,206 | 83% |
| 18 | Lasell University Newton, MA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 10 | Graphic Design | $29,661 | 59% | $23,724 | 81% |
| 19 | Quinsigamond Community College Worcester, MA Public · 2 feeder programs | 9 | Game and Interactive Media Design | — | 22% | — | — |
| 20 | Mount Wachusett Community College Gardner, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Web Page, Digital/Multimedia and Information Resources Design | — | 24% | — | — |
| 21 | North Shore Community College Danvers, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Graphic Design | — | 18% | — | — |
| 22 | Westfield State University Westfield, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Graphic Design | — | 54% | — | 81% |
| 23 | Endicott College Beverly, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Graphic Design | $39,271 | 76% | $34,195 | 71% |
| 24 | Massasoit Community College Brockton, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Graphic Design | — | 19% | — | — |
| 25 | Bunker Hill Community College Boston, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Web Page, Digital/Multimedia and Information Resources Design | — | 13% | — | — |
All 35 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northeastern University | Boston | Private not-for-profit | 140 | 4 |
| Boston University | Boston | Private not-for-profit | 92 | 3 |
| Massachusetts College of Art and Design | Boston | Public | 67 | 3 |
| Clark University | Worcester | Private not-for-profit | 45 | 1 |
| Lesley University | Cambridge | Private not-for-profit | 45 | 3 |
| Harvard University | Cambridge | Private not-for-profit | 43 | 1 |
| University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth | North Dartmouth | Public | 39 | 4 |
| Montserrat College of Art | Beverly | Private not-for-profit | 32 | 4 |
| Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Worcester | Private not-for-profit | 30 | 1 |
| University of Massachusetts - Lowell | Lowell | Public | 26 | 1 |
| Bristol Community College | Fall River | Public | 24 | 3 |
| Fitchburg State University | Fitchburg | Public | 24 | 1 |
| Holyoke Community College | Holyoke | Public | 17 | 1 |
| Suffolk University | Boston | Private not-for-profit | 15 | 1 |
| Emmanuel College | Boston | Private not-for-profit | 13 | 1 |
What special effects artists and animators earn in Massachusetts
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $102,030. Massachusetts pays below the national figure.
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 Special Effects Artists and Animators page.
How to become a Special Effects Artist
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
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
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 Special Effects Artists and Animators9 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 10.0304Animation, Interactive Technology, Video Graphics, and Special Effects
- 11.0801Web Page, Digital/Multimedia and Information Resources Design
- 11.0804Modeling, Virtual Environments and Simulation
- 50.0102Digital Arts
- 50.0409Graphic Design
- 50.0411Game and Interactive Media Design
- 50.0705Drawing
- 50.0706Intermedia/Multimedia
- 50.0708Painting
Common questions
Answers for people weighing special effects artists and animators programs in Massachusetts.
What degree do you need to become a Special Effects Artist?+
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 366 degrees in Massachusetts in 2024-25, 47.3% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Special Effects Artist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 8 programs to this occupation. The largest are Design and Applied Arts, Graphic Communications, Visual and Performing Arts, Fine and Studio Arts, plus 1 more. Together they graduate about 773 people a year in Massachusetts.
How much do special effects artists and animators earn in Massachusetts?+
The median is $80,640 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 21.0% below the U.S. median of $102,030. 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 special effects artists and animators growing?+
BLS projects a +1.6% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 5,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Massachusetts?+
35 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.
What other job titles do special effects artists and animators work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Artist, Animator, Graphic Artist, 3D Artist (Three-Dimensional Artist) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-1014.
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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