Best Commercial programs in Minnesota, ranked by enrollment
Design and develop manufactured products, such as cars, home appliances, and children's toys.
12 schools in Minnesota run programs that feed this job, graduating 211 people a year. The job pays a median of $94,370 in Minnesota across about 590 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Minnesota that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
4 programs in Minnesota that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Minnesota (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 Minnesota page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 50.0401In Minnesota → | 117 | 55.5% | 5 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 2 | CIP 50.0402In Minnesota → | 53 | 25.1% | 3 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 3 | CIP 50.0404In Minnesota → | 34 | 16.1% | 2 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 4 | CIP 15.1701In Minnesota → | 7 | 3.3% | 2 | $63,554 | $17,750 |
Top 12 schools in Minnesota
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 6 of the 12 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minneapolis Community and Technical College Minneapolis, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 79 | Design and Visual Communications, General | $40,230 | 20% | — | — |
| 2 | University of Minnesota - Duluth Duluth, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 34 | Commercial and Advertising Art | $31,337 | 65% | — | 89% |
| 3 | University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 31 | Industrial and Product Design | $42,462 | 85% | — | 80% |
| 4 | Minnesota State University - Mankato Mankato, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Design and Visual Communications, General | — | 54% | — | 88% |
| 5 | Bemidji State University Bemidji, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Design and Visual Communications, General | $40,231 | 48% | — | 56% |
| 6 | Central Lakes College - Brainerd Brainerd, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Commercial and Advertising Art | — | 53% | — | — |
| 7 | Alexandria Technical & Community College Alexandria, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Commercial and Advertising Art | $31,830 | 60% | — | — |
| 8 | Minnesota North College Hibbing, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Design and Visual Communications, General | — | 42% | — | — |
| 9 | Dakota County Technical College Rosemount, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Energy Systems Technology/Technician | — | 58% | — | — |
| 10 | Minneapolis College of Art and Design Minneapolis, MN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Industrial and Product Design | $23,687 | 51% | $24,998 | 48% |
| 11 | Century College White Bear Lake, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Energy Systems Technology/Technician | — | 31% | — | — |
| 12 | Ridgewater College Willmar, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Design and Visual Communications, General | — | 50% | — | — |
All 12 schools in Minnesota
Every school in Minnesota 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minneapolis Community and Technical College | Minneapolis | Public | 79 | 1 |
| University of Minnesota - Duluth | Duluth | Public | 34 | 1 |
| University of Minnesota - Twin Cities | Minneapolis | Public | 31 | 1 |
| Minnesota State University - Mankato | Mankato | Public | 17 | 1 |
| Bemidji State University | Bemidji | Public | 13 | 1 |
| Central Lakes College - Brainerd | Brainerd | Public | 11 | 1 |
| Alexandria Technical & Community College | Alexandria | Public | 8 | 1 |
| Minnesota North College | Hibbing | Public | 7 | 1 |
| Dakota County Technical College | Rosemount | Public | 6 | 1 |
| Minneapolis College of Art and Design | Minneapolis | Private not-for-profit | 3 | 1 |
| Century College | White Bear Lake | Public | 1 | 1 |
| Ridgewater College | Willmar | Public | 1 | 1 |
What commercial and industrial designers earn in Minnesota
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $83,910. Minnesota pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Minnesota
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 Commercial and Industrial Designers page.
How to become a Commercial
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 Minnesota
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 5 majors mapped to Commercial and Industrial Designers5 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 15.1503Packaging Science
- 15.1701Energy Systems Technology/Technician
- 50.0401Design and Visual Communications, General
- 50.0402Commercial and Advertising Art
- 50.0404Industrial and Product Design
Common questions
Answers for people weighing commercial and industrial designers programs in Minnesota.
What degree do you need to become a Commercial?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Design and Visual Communications, General, which awarded 117 degrees in Minnesota in 2024-25, 55.5% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Commercial?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Design and Applied Arts, Energy Systems Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 211 people a year in Minnesota.
How much do commercial and industrial designers earn in Minnesota?+
The median is $94,370 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 12.5% above the U.S. median of $83,910. 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 commercial and industrial designers growing?+
BLS projects a +3.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 2,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Minnesota?+
12 institutions in Minnesota reported graduates from at least one of the 4 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 commercial and industrial designers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Designer, Design Engineer, Product Designer, Industrial Designer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-1021.
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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