Best Prepress Technician programs in Minnesota, ranked by enrollment
Format and proof text and images submitted by designers and clients into finished pages that can be printed. Includes digital and photo typesetting.
3 schools in Minnesota run programs that feed this job, graduating 32 people a year. The job pays a median of $49,130 in Minnesota across about 2,880 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.
3 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 10.0302In Minnesota → | 24 | 75.0% | 1 | $25,121 | $26,958 |
| 2 | CIP 10.0301In Minnesota → | 6 | 18.8% | 1 | $25,121 | $26,958 |
| 3 | CIP 10.0303In Minnesota → | 2 | 6.2% | 1 | $25,121 | $26,958 |
Top 3 schools in Minnesota
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 3 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Minnesota - Duluth Duluth, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Printing Management | $36,557 | 65% | — | 89% |
| 2 | South Central College North Mankato, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Graphic Communications, General | — | 39% | — | — |
| 3 | Hennepin Technical College Brooklyn Park, MN Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Prepress/Desktop Publishing and Digital Imaging Design | — | 42% | — | — |
All 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Minnesota - Duluth | Duluth | Public | 24 | 1 |
| South Central College | North Mankato | Public | 6 | 1 |
| Hennepin Technical College | Brooklyn Park | Public | 2 | 1 |
What prepress technicians and workers earn in Minnesota
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $48,690. Minnesota pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: Minnesota employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
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 Prepress Technicians and Workers page.
How to become a Prepress Technician
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- Postsecondary nondegree award
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
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 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 Minnesota.
What degree do you need to become a Prepress Technician?+
Postsecondary nondegree award is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Printing Management, which awarded 24 degrees in Minnesota in 2024-25, 75.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Prepress Technician?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Graphic Communications. Together they graduate about 32 people a year in Minnesota.
How much do prepress technicians and workers earn in Minnesota?+
The median is $49,130 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 0.9% 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 Minnesota?+
3 institutions in Minnesota 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 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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