Best Museum Technician programs in Michigan, ranked by enrollment
Restore, maintain, or prepare objects in museum collections for storage, research, or exhibit. May work with specimens such as fossils, skeletal parts, or botanicals; or artifacts, textiles, or art.
13 schools in Michigan run programs that feed this job, graduating 77 people a year. The job pays a median of $39,000 in Michigan across about 340 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Michigan that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
3 programs in Michigan that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Michigan (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 Michigan page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 50.0703In Michigan → | 39 | 50.6% | 13 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 2 | Museology/Museum Studiesmain feeder CIP 30.1401In Michigan → | 20 | 26.0% | 3 | — | $21,295 |
| 3 | CIP 54.0105In Michigan → | 18 | 23.4% | 3 | $31,217 | $24,000 |
Top 13 schools in Michigan
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 5 of the 13 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI Public · 2 feeder programs | 21 | Museology/Museum Studies | — | 93% | — | 16% |
| 2 | Wayne State University Detroit, MI Public · 3 feeder programs | 15 | Museology/Museum Studies | — | 58% | — | 81% |
| 3 | Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI Public · 2 feeder programs | 15 | Public/Applied History | $27,087 | 58% | — | 85% |
| 4 | Central Michigan University Mount Pleasant, MI Public · 2 feeder programs | 6 | Public/Applied History | $33,000 | 59% | — | 90% |
| 5 | Michigan State University East Lansing, MI Public · 2 feeder programs | 6 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $19,566 | 81% | — | 85% |
| 6 | Kalamazoo College Kalamazoo, MI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | — | 76% | $19,279 | 75% |
| 7 | Lansing Community College Lansing, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | — | 25% | — | — |
| 8 | Oakland University Rochester Hills, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $22,840 | 58% | — | 88% |
| 9 | University of Michigan - Dearborn Dearborn, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | — | 58% | — | 56% |
| 10 | Albion College Albion, MI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | — | 62% | $16,537 | 81% |
| 11 | Grand Valley State University Allendale, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $24,135 | 67% | — | 83% |
| 12 | Hope College Holland, MI Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | — | 80% | $21,746 | 79% |
| 13 | University of Michigan - Flint Flint, MI Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | — | 40% | — | 70% |
All 13 schools in Michigan
Every school in Michigan 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 Michigan - Ann Arbor | Ann Arbor | Public | 21 | 2 |
| Wayne State University | Detroit | Public | 15 | 3 |
| Western Michigan University | Kalamazoo | Public | 15 | 2 |
| Central Michigan University | Mount Pleasant | Public | 6 | 2 |
| Michigan State University | East Lansing | Public | 6 | 2 |
| Kalamazoo College | Kalamazoo | Private not-for-profit | 4 | 1 |
| Lansing Community College | Lansing | Public | 2 | 1 |
| Oakland University | Rochester Hills | Public | 2 | 1 |
| University of Michigan - Dearborn | Dearborn | Public | 2 | 1 |
| Albion College | Albion | Private not-for-profit | 1 | 1 |
| Grand Valley State University | Allendale | Public | 1 | 1 |
| Hope College | Holland | Private not-for-profit | 1 | 1 |
| University of Michigan - Flint | Flint | Public | 1 | 1 |
What museum technicians and conservators earn in Michigan
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $51,440. Michigan pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Michigan
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 Museum Technicians and Conservators page.
How to become a Museum Technician
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 Michigan
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 3 majors mapped to Museum Technicians and Conservators3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 30.1401Museology/Museum Studies
- 50.0703Art History, Criticism and Conservation
- 54.0105Public/Applied History
Common questions
Answers for people weighing museum technicians and conservators programs in Michigan.
What degree do you need to become a Museum Technician?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Art History, Criticism and Conservation, which awarded 39 degrees in Michigan in 2024-25, 50.6% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Museum Technician?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Fine and Studio Arts, Museology/Museum Studies, History. Together they graduate about 77 people a year in Michigan.
How much do museum technicians and conservators earn in Michigan?+
The median is $39,000 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 24.2% below the U.S. median of $51,440. 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 museum technicians and conservators growing?+
BLS projects a +5.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 1,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Michigan?+
13 institutions in Michigan 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 museum technicians and conservators work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Preparator, Conservator, Objects Conservator, Paintings Conservator among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-4013.
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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