Best Museum Technician programs in New York, ranked by enrollment
Restore, maintain, or prepare objects in museum collections for storage, research, or exhibit. May work with specimens such as fossils, skeletal parts, or botanicals; or artifacts, textiles, or art.
52 schools in New York run programs that feed this job, graduating 858 people a year. The job pays a median of $74,550 in New York across about 1,050 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in New York that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
3 programs in New York that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in New York (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 York page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 50.0703In New York → | 696 | 81.1% | 45 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 2 | Museology/Museum Studiesmain feeder CIP 30.1401In New York → | 133 | 15.5% | 11 | — | $21,295 |
| 3 | CIP 54.0105In New York → | 29 | 3.4% | 5 | $31,217 | $24,000 |
Top 25 schools in New York
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 31 of the 52 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York University New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 122 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $25,053 | 88% | $29,023 | 9% |
| 2 | Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 82 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $51,435 | 96% | $15,315 | 4% |
| 3 | Sotheby's Institute of Art - NY New York, NY Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 70 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College New York, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 66 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $13,559 | 25% | — | — |
| 5 | CUNY Graduate School and University Center New York, NY Public · 2 feeder programs | 46 | Museology/Museum Studies | — | — | — | 68% |
| 6 | Bard College Annandale-On-Hudson, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 42 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $19,327 | 68% | $24,278 | 52% |
| 7 | The New School New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 36 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $20,967 | 69% | $54,185 | 63% |
| 8 | CUNY Hunter College New York, NY Public · 2 feeder programs | 35 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $22,788 | 57% | — | 54% |
| 9 | Syracuse University Syracuse, NY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 32 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $32,636 | 84% | $28,851 | 46% |
| 10 | Pratt Institute - Main Brooklyn, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $18,451 | 74% | $49,088 | 73% |
| 11 | Barnard College New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $39,947 | 93% | $24,675 | 9% |
| 12 | School of Visual Arts New York, NY Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 20 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $21,344 | 76% | $58,518 | 93% |
| 13 | CUNY Queensborough Community College Bayside, NY Public · 2 feeder programs | 19 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $16,739 | 24% | — | — |
| 14 | Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | — | 76% | — | 49% |
| 15 | Cornell University Ithaca, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $31,073 | 95% | $17,613 | 9% |
| 16 | Fordham University Bronx, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $35,929 | 82% | $38,931 | 59% |
| 17 | Binghamton University Vestal, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $25,751 | 82% | — | 39% |
| 18 | SUNY Oneonta Oneonta, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Museology/Museum Studies | — | 69% | — | 70% |
| 19 | SUNY at Purchase College Purchase, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $14,984 | 63% | — | 74% |
| 20 | Empire State University Saratoga Springs, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Public/Applied History | — | 41% | — | — |
| 21 | Fashion Institute of Technology New York, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Museology/Museum Studies | — | 81% | — | 60% |
| 22 | Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Museology/Museum Studies | — | 70% | $28,133 | 67% |
| 23 | St. John's University - New York Queens, NY Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 9 | Public/Applied History | — | 66% | $27,359 | 83% |
| 24 | Hamilton College Clinton, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | — | 91% | $20,680 | 14% |
| 25 | Skidmore College Saratoga Springs, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $30,480 | 83% | $25,238 | 21% |
All 52 schools in New York
Every school in New York 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York University | New York | Private not-for-profit | 122 | 2 |
| Columbia University in the City of New York | New York | Private not-for-profit | 82 | 1 |
| Sotheby's Institute of Art - NY | New York | Private for-profit | 70 | 1 |
| CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College | New York | Public | 66 | 1 |
| CUNY Graduate School and University Center | New York | Public | 46 | 2 |
| Bard College | Annandale-On-Hudson | Private not-for-profit | 42 | 1 |
| The New School | New York | Private not-for-profit | 36 | 1 |
| CUNY Hunter College | New York | Public | 35 | 2 |
| Syracuse University | Syracuse | Private not-for-profit | 32 | 2 |
| Pratt Institute - Main | Brooklyn | Private not-for-profit | 27 | 1 |
| Barnard College | New York | Private not-for-profit | 24 | 1 |
| School of Visual Arts | New York | Private for-profit | 20 | 2 |
| CUNY Queensborough Community College | Bayside | Public | 19 | 2 |
| Stony Brook University | Stony Brook | Public | 19 | 1 |
| Cornell University | Ithaca | Private not-for-profit | 18 | 1 |
What museum technicians and conservators earn in New York
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $51,440. New York pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: New York employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in New York
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 Museum Technicians and Conservators page.
How to become a Museum Technician
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 New York
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 3 majors mapped to Museum Technicians and Conservators3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 30.1401Museology/Museum Studies
- 50.0703Art History, Criticism and Conservation
- 54.0105Public/Applied History
Common questions
Answers for people weighing museum technicians and conservators programs in New York.
What degree do you need to become a Museum Technician?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Art History, Criticism and Conservation, which awarded 696 degrees in New York in 2024-25, 81.1% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Museum Technician?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Fine and Studio Arts, Museology/Museum Studies, History. Together they graduate about 858 people a year in New York.
How much do museum technicians and conservators earn in New York?+
The median is $74,550 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 44.9% above the U.S. median of $51,440. 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 museum technicians and conservators growing?+
BLS projects a +5.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 1,900 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in New York?+
52 institutions in New York 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 museum technicians and conservators work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Preparator, Conservator, Objects Conservator, Paintings Conservator among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-4013.
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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