Best Art programs in New Mexico, ranked by enrollment
Teach courses in drama, music, and the arts including fine and applied art, such as painting and sculpture, or design and crafts.
17 schools in New Mexico run programs that feed this job, graduating 703 people a year. The job pays a median of $76,240 in New Mexico across about 380 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in New Mexico that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
22 programs in New Mexico that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in New Mexico (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 New Mexico page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 50.0602In New Mexico → | 154 | 21.9% | 8 | $25,014 | $24,650 |
| 2 | CIP 50.0601In New Mexico → | 120 | 17.1% | 3 | $25,014 | $24,650 |
| 3 | CIP 50.0701In New Mexico → | 104 | 14.8% | 7 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 4 | CIP 50.0903In New Mexico → | 65 | 9.2% | 2 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 5 | CIP 50.0101In New Mexico → | 49 | 7.0% | 2 | $24,752 | $25,963 |
| 6 | CIP 50.0702In New Mexico → | 46 | 6.5% | 6 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 7 | CIP 50.0409In New Mexico → | 28 | 4.0% | 5 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 8 | CIP 50.0501In New Mexico → | 24 | 3.4% | 5 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
| 9 | CIP 50.0102In New Mexico → | 19 | 2.7% | 2 | $24,752 | $25,963 |
| 10 | CIP 13.1312In New Mexico → | 18 | 2.6% | 2 | $43,033 | $26,044 |
| 11 | CIP 50.0703In New Mexico → | 14 | 2.0% | 2 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 12 | CIP 50.0713In New Mexico → | 13 | 1.8% | 2 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 13 | CIP 13.1302In New Mexico → | 10 | 1.4% | 1 | $43,033 | $26,044 |
| 14 | CIP 50.0301In New Mexico → | 7 | 1.0% | 2 | $21,877 | $25,000 |
| 15 | CIP 50.0711In New Mexico → | 7 | 1.0% | 1 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 16 | CIP 50.0605In New Mexico → | 5 | 0.7% | 1 | $25,014 | $24,650 |
| 17 | CIP 50.0406In New Mexico → | 4 | 0.6% | 2 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 18 | CIP 50.0502In New Mexico → | 4 | 0.6% | 1 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
| 19 | CIP 50.1001In New Mexico → | 4 | 0.6% | 1 | $28,050 | $25,468 |
| 20 | CIP 50.1002In New Mexico → | 4 | 0.6% | 1 | $28,050 | $25,468 |
| 21 | CIP 50.0709In New Mexico → | 3 | 0.4% | 1 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 22 | CIP 50.0710In New Mexico → | 1 | 0.1% | 1 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
Top 17 schools in New Mexico
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 17 schools in this state.
All 17 schools in New Mexico
Every school in New Mexico 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 New Mexico - Main Campus | Albuquerque | Public | 308 | 10 |
| Central New Mexico Community College | Albuquerque | Public | 130 | 5 |
| New Mexico State University - Main Campus | Las Cruces | Public | 93 | 7 |
| Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development | Santa Fe | Public | 61 | 5 |
| Santa Fe Community College | Santa Fe | Public | 37 | 10 |
| New Mexico State University - Dona Ana | Las Cruces | Public | 18 | 2 |
| Eastern New Mexico University - Roswell Campus | Roswell | Public | 9 | 2 |
| New Mexico Highlands University | Las Vegas | Public | 9 | 2 |
| Eastern New Mexico University - Main Campus | Portales | Public | 7 | 3 |
| University of New Mexico - Valencia County Campus | Los Lunas | Public | 6 | 2 |
| Western New Mexico University | Silver City | Public | 6 | 2 |
| Clovis Community College | Clovis | Public | 5 | 2 |
| New Mexico State University - Alamogordo | Alamogordo | Public | 5 | 2 |
| New Mexico Junior College | Hobbs | Public | 4 | 1 |
| Mesalands Community College | Tucumcari | Public | 2 | 1 |
What art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary earn in New Mexico
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $78,620. New Mexico 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 Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary page.
How to become a Art
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Master's degree
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or 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 New Mexico
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 25 majors mapped to Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary25 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 13.1302Art Teacher Education
- 13.1312Music Teacher Education
- 13.1324Drama and Dance Teacher Education
- 50.0101Visual and Performing Arts, General
- 50.0102Digital Arts
- 50.0201Crafts/Craft Design, Folk Art and Artisanry
- 50.0301Dance, General
- 50.0302Ballet
- 50.0399Dance, Other
- 50.0401Design and Visual Communications, General
- 50.0404Industrial and Product Design
- 50.0406Commercial Photography
- 50.0407Fashion/Apparel Design
- 50.0409Graphic Design
- 50.0410Illustration
- 50.0501Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General
- 50.0502Technical Theatre/Theatre Design and Technology
- 50.0504Playwriting and Screenwriting
- 50.0505Theatre Literature, History and Criticism
- 50.0506Acting
- 50.0507Directing and Theatrical Production
- 50.0509Musical Theatre
- 50.0510Costume Design
- 50.0511Comedy Writing and Performance
- 50.0512Theatre and Dance
Common questions
Answers for people weighing art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary programs in New Mexico.
What degree do you need to become an Art?+
Master's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Cinematography and Film/Video Production, which awarded 154 degrees in New Mexico in 2024-25, 21.9% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Art?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 22 programs to this occupation. The largest are Film/Video and Photographic Arts, Fine and Studio Arts, Visual and Performing Arts, Music, plus 5 more. Together they graduate about 703 people a year in New Mexico.
How much do art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary earn in New Mexico?+
The median is $76,240 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 3.0% below the U.S. median of $78,620. 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 art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary growing?+
BLS projects a +1.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 9,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in New Mexico?+
17 institutions in New Mexico reported graduates from at least one of the 22 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 art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Professor, Art Professor, Music Professor, Theater Professor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-1121.
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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