Best Fine Artist programs in Nebraska, ranked by enrollment
Create original artwork using any of a wide variety of media and.
14 schools in Nebraska run programs that feed this job, graduating 154 people a year. The job pays a median of $39,800 in Nebraska across about 40 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
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.
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 programs | 52 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $28,942 | 47% | — | 87% |
| 2 | University of Nebraska - Lincoln Lincoln, NE Public · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $28,783 | 67% | — | 87% |
| 3 | University of Nebraska at Kearney Kearney, NE Public · 1 feeder programs | 29 | Art/Art Studies, General | $40,501 | 58% | — | 89% |
| 4 | Hastings College Hastings, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 49% | $20,424 | 72% |
| 5 | Metropolitan Community College Area Omaha, NE Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 29% | — | — |
| 6 | Concordia University - Nebraska Seward, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 65% | $22,390 | 86% |
| 7 | Nebraska Wesleyan University Lincoln, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Art/Art Studies, General | — | 66% | $22,225 | 80% |
| 8 | Northeast Community College Norfolk, NE Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Art/Art Studies, General | — | 56% | — | — |
| 9 | Wayne State College Wayne, NE Public · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 52% | — | — |
| 10 | Creighton University Omaha, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 83% | $27,353 | 80% |
| 11 | Peru State College Peru, NE Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Art/Art Studies, General | — | 38% | — | — |
| 12 | Chadron State College Chadron, NE Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Art/Art Studies, General | — | 50% | — | — |
| 13 | College of Saint Mary Omaha, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Art/Art Studies, General | — | 61% | $14,629 | 45% |
| 14 | Union Adventist University Lincoln, NE Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 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 |
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, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators page.
How to become a Fine Artist
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- On-the-job training
- Long-term on-the-job training
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 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?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Fine/Studio Arts, General, which awarded 110 degrees in Nebraska in 2024-25, 71.4% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Fine Artist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Fine and Studio Arts. Together they graduate about 154 people a year in Nebraska.
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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