Best programs to become a fine artist in Nebraska
14 Nebraska schools offer programs that train fine artists, graduating 154 people a year. Fine artists in Nebraska earn a median of $39,800 across about 40 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
BLS lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for fine artists. The fields of study that lead most directly to this job in Nebraska are Fine/Studio Arts and Art/Art Studies (IPEDS completions).
Create original artwork using any of a wide variety of media and.
2 programs in Nebraska that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Nebraska (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 Nebraska page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fine/Studio Arts, Generalmain feeder CIP 50.0702In Nebraska → | 110 | 71.4% | 7 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 2 | Art/Art Studies, Generalmain feeder CIP 50.0701In Nebraska → | 44 | 28.6% | 7 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
Top 14 schools in Nebraska
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 3 of the 14 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Nebraska at Omaha Omaha, NE Public · 1 feeder program | 52 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $28,942 | 47% | — | 87% |
| 2 | University of Nebraska - Lincoln Lincoln, NE Public · 1 feeder program | 30 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $28,783 | 67% | — | 87% |
| 3 | University of Nebraska at Kearney Kearney, NE Public · 1 feeder program | 29 | Art/Art Studies, General | $40,501 | 58% | — | 89% |
| 4 | Hastings College Hastings, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder program | 9 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 49% | $20,424 | 72% |
| 5 | Metropolitan Community College Area Omaha, NE Public · 1 feeder program | 7 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 29% | — | — |
| 6 | Concordia University - Nebraska Seward, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder program | 5 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 65% | $22,390 | 86% |
| 7 | Nebraska Wesleyan University Lincoln, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder program | 5 | Art/Art Studies, General | — | 66% | $22,225 | 80% |
| 8 | Northeast Community College Norfolk, NE Public · 1 feeder program | 4 | Art/Art Studies, General | — | 56% | — | — |
| 9 | Wayne State College Wayne, NE Public · 1 feeder program | 4 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 52% | — | — |
| 10 | Creighton University Omaha, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder program | 3 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 83% | $27,353 | 80% |
| 11 | Peru State College Peru, NE Public · 1 feeder program | 3 | Art/Art Studies, General | — | 38% | — | — |
| 12 | Chadron State College Chadron, NE Public · 1 feeder program | 1 | Art/Art Studies, General | — | 50% | — | — |
| 13 | College of Saint Mary Omaha, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder program | 1 | Art/Art Studies, General | — | 61% | $14,629 | 45% |
| 14 | Union Adventist University Lincoln, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder program | 1 | Art/Art Studies, General | — | 52% | $20,543 | 100% |
All 14 schools in Nebraska
Every school in Nebraska 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 Nebraska at Omaha | Omaha | Public | 52 | 1 |
| University of Nebraska - Lincoln | Lincoln | Public | 30 | 1 |
| University of Nebraska at Kearney | Kearney | Public | 29 | 1 |
| Hastings College | Hastings | Private not-for-profit | 9 | 1 |
| Metropolitan Community College Area | Omaha | Public | 7 | 1 |
| Concordia University - Nebraska | Seward | Private not-for-profit | 5 | 1 |
| Nebraska Wesleyan University | Lincoln | Private not-for-profit | 5 | 1 |
| Northeast Community College | Norfolk | Public | 4 | 1 |
| Wayne State College | Wayne | Public | 4 | 1 |
| Creighton University | Omaha | Private not-for-profit | 3 | 1 |
| Peru State College | Peru | Public | 3 | 1 |
| Chadron State College | Chadron | Public | 1 | 1 |
| College of Saint Mary | Omaha | Private not-for-profit | 1 | 1 |
| Union Adventist University | Lincoln | Private not-for-profit | 1 | 1 |
Fields of study in Nebraska that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
What fine artists, including painters, sculptors, and illustrators earn in Nebraska
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $55,490. Nebraska pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
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 and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators page.
How to become a fine artist
- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- 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 Nebraska
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 12 majors mapped to Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators12 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 50.0101Visual and Performing Arts, General
- 50.0701Art/Art Studies, General
- 50.0702Fine/Studio Arts, General
- 50.0705Drawing
- 50.0706Intermedia/Multimedia
- 50.0708Painting
- 50.0709Sculpture
- 50.0710Printmaking
- 50.0711Ceramic Arts and Ceramics
- 50.0799Fine Arts and Art Studies, Other
- 50.1101Community/Environmental/Socially-Engaged Art
- 51.2703Medical Illustration/Medical Illustrator
Common questions
Answers for people weighing fine artists, including painters, sculptors, and illustrators programs in Nebraska.
What degree do you need to become a fine artist?+
BLS lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for fine artists. The fields of study that lead most directly to this job in Nebraska are Fine/Studio Arts and Art/Art Studies (IPEDS completions).
Which college majors lead to becoming a fine artist?+
The fields of study that lead most directly to this job in Nebraska are Fine/Studio Arts and Art/Art Studies (IPEDS completions). In all, 2 feeder programs graduate about 154 people a year in Nebraska (IPEDS completions).
How much do fine artists, including painters, sculptors, and illustrators earn in Nebraska?+
The median is $39,800 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 28.3% below the U.S. median of $55,490. 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 fine artists, including painters, sculptors, and illustrators growing?+
BLS projects a -1.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 2,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Nebraska?+
14 institutions in Nebraska reported graduates from at least one of the 2 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 fine artists, including painters, sculptors, and illustrators work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Artist, Painter, Sculptor, Fine Artist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-1013.
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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