Best Art programs in North Carolina, 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.
60 schools in North Carolina run programs that feed this job, graduating 2,784 people a year. The job pays a median of $73,800 in North Carolina across about 2,880 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in North Carolina that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
43 programs in North Carolina that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in North Carolina (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 North Carolina page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 50.0409In North Carolina → | 429 | 15.4% | 24 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 2 | CIP 50.0702In North Carolina → | 429 | 15.4% | 20 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 3 | CIP 50.0501In North Carolina → | 293 | 10.5% | 20 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
| 4 | CIP 50.0602In North Carolina → | 242 | 8.7% | 5 | $25,014 | $24,650 |
| 5 | CIP 50.0701In North Carolina → | 228 | 8.2% | 17 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 6 | CIP 50.0903In North Carolina → | 224 | 8.0% | 15 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 7 | CIP 50.0301In North Carolina → | 133 | 4.8% | 10 | $21,877 | $25,000 |
| 8 | CIP 13.1312In North Carolina → | 103 | 3.7% | 15 | $43,033 | $26,044 |
| 9 | CIP 50.0703In North Carolina → | 99 | 3.6% | 9 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 10 | CIP 50.0502In North Carolina → | 80 | 2.9% | 3 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
| 11 | CIP 13.1302In North Carolina → | 61 | 2.2% | 6 | $43,033 | $26,044 |
| 12 | CIP 50.0404In North Carolina → | 51 | 1.8% | 2 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 13 | CIP 50.0102In North Carolina → | 41 | 1.5% | 2 | $24,752 | $25,963 |
| 14 | CIP 50.1002In North Carolina → | 41 | 1.5% | 2 | $28,050 | $25,468 |
| 15 | CIP 50.0401In North Carolina → | 35 | 1.3% | 1 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 16 | CIP 50.0101In North Carolina → | 31 | 1.1% | 5 | $24,752 | $25,963 |
| 17 | CIP 50.0509In North Carolina → | 21 | 0.8% | 4 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
| 18 | CIP 50.1003In North Carolina → | 18 | 0.6% | 2 | $28,050 | $25,468 |
| 19 | CIP 50.0905In North Carolina → | 17 | 0.6% | 2 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 20 | CIP 50.0913In North Carolina → | 17 | 0.6% | 2 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 21 | CIP 50.0506In North Carolina → | 16 | 0.6% | 3 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
| 22 | CIP 50.0713In North Carolina → | 15 | 0.5% | 1 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 23 | Visual and Performing Arts, Othermain feeder CIP 50.9999In North Carolina → | 14 | 0.5% | 1 | $24,229 | $25,000 |
| 24 | CIP 50.0407In North Carolina → | 14 | 0.5% | 2 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 25 | CIP 50.0406In North Carolina → | 13 | 0.5% | 1 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 26 | CIP 13.1324In North Carolina → | 12 | 0.4% | 3 | $43,033 | $26,044 |
| 27 | CIP 50.0799In North Carolina → | 12 | 0.4% | 1 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 28 | CIP 50.0910In North Carolina → | 12 | 0.4% | 2 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 29 | CIP 50.0601In North Carolina → | 10 | 0.4% | 2 | $25,014 | $24,650 |
| 30 | CIP 50.0607In North Carolina → | 10 | 0.4% | 1 | $25,014 | $24,650 |
| 31 | CIP 50.0599In North Carolina → | 9 | 0.3% | 4 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
| 32 | CIP 50.0904In North Carolina → | 9 | 0.3% | 2 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 33 | CIP 50.0201In North Carolina → | 7 | 0.3% | 1 | $25,027 | $27,000 |
| 34 | CIP 50.0605In North Carolina → | 7 | 0.3% | 1 | $25,014 | $24,650 |
| 35 | CIP 50.0712In North Carolina → | 6 | 0.2% | 1 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 36 | CIP 50.0999In North Carolina → | 6 | 0.2% | 3 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 37 | CIP 50.1001In North Carolina → | 6 | 0.2% | 1 | $28,050 | $25,468 |
| 38 | CIP 50.0908In North Carolina → | 4 | 0.1% | 4 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 39 | CIP 50.0912In North Carolina → | 3 | 0.1% | 2 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 40 | CIP 50.1004In North Carolina → | 3 | 0.1% | 3 | $28,050 | $25,468 |
| 41 | CIP 50.0709In North Carolina → | 1 | 0.0% | 1 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 42 | CIP 50.0906In North Carolina → | 1 | 0.0% | 1 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 43 | CIP 50.0907In North Carolina → | 1 | 0.0% | 1 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
Top 25 schools in North Carolina
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 18 of the 60 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, NC Public · 14 feeder programs | 353 | Music Performance, General | $15,670 | 56% | — | 89% |
| 2 | University of North Carolina School of the Arts Winston Salem, NC Public · 6 feeder programs | 297 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | $24,053 | 78% | — | 30% |
| 3 | Appalachian State University Boone, NC Public · 12 feeder programs | 281 | Graphic Design | $34,722 | 75% | — | 90% |
| 4 | University of North Carolina Wilmington Wilmington, NC Public · 6 feeder programs | 187 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | $22,315 | 71% | — | 64% |
| 5 | East Carolina University Greenville, NC Public · 7 feeder programs | 179 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $21,271 | 63% | — | 89% |
| 6 | University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC Public · 7 feeder programs | 169 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $25,855 | 69% | — | 80% |
| 7 | North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC Public · 5 feeder programs | 157 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $30,577 | 85% | — | 42% |
| 8 | University of North Carolina Asheville Asheville, NC Public · 7 feeder programs | 104 | Digital Arts | $23,023 | 54% | — | 92% |
| 9 | Western Carolina University Cullowhee, NC Public · 6 feeder programs | 98 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $24,253 | 60% | — | 82% |
| 10 | Wake Technical Community College Raleigh, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 73 | Graphic Design | $32,153 | 33% | — | — |
| 11 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC Public · 5 feeder programs | 71 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $24,005 | 91% | — | 15% |
| 12 | Elon University Elon, NC Private not-for-profit · 11 feeder programs | 68 | Musical Theatre | $24,345 | 84% | $33,688 | 66% |
| 13 | High Point University High Point, NC Private not-for-profit · 8 feeder programs | 48 | Graphic Design | — | 74% | $37,072 | 75% |
| 14 | Duke University Durham, NC Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 46 | Visual and Performing Arts, Other | — | 97% | $16,260 | 6% |
| 15 | Meredith College Raleigh, NC Private not-for-profit · 11 feeder programs | 46 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 70% | $19,552 | 74% |
| 16 | North Carolina A & T State University Greensboro, NC Public · 3 feeder programs | 41 | Art/Art Studies, General | $15,257 | 57% | — | 50% |
| 17 | Wilkes Community College Wilkesboro, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 40 | Graphic Design | — | 55% | — | — |
| 18 | Fayetteville Technical Community College Fayetteville, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 36 | Graphic Design | — | 24% | — | — |
| 19 | North Carolina Central University Durham, NC Public · 4 feeder programs | 32 | Art/Art Studies, General | $21,980 | 42% | — | 87% |
| 20 | Cape Fear Community College Wilmington, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 31 | Cinematography and Film/Video Production | — | 34% | — | — |
| 21 | Haywood Community College Clyde, NC Public · 3 feeder programs | 28 | Jewelry Arts | — | 34% | — | — |
| 22 | Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 24 | Documentary Production | — | 89% | $20,914 | 22% |
| 23 | Fayetteville State University Fayetteville, NC Public · 2 feeder programs | 23 | Art/Art Studies, General | $16,454 | 38% | — | 82% |
| 24 | Guilford Technical Community College Jamestown, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 23 | Graphic Design | $24,827 | 31% | — | — |
| 25 | Alamance Community College Graham, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 22 | Graphic Design | — | 39% | — | — |
All 60 schools in North Carolina
Every school in North Carolina 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 North Carolina at Greensboro | Greensboro | Public | 353 | 14 |
| University of North Carolina School of the Arts | Winston Salem | Public | 297 | 6 |
| Appalachian State University | Boone | Public | 281 | 12 |
| University of North Carolina Wilmington | Wilmington | Public | 187 | 6 |
| East Carolina University | Greenville | Public | 179 | 7 |
| University of North Carolina at Charlotte | Charlotte | Public | 169 | 7 |
| North Carolina State University at Raleigh | Raleigh | Public | 157 | 5 |
| University of North Carolina Asheville | Asheville | Public | 104 | 7 |
| Western Carolina University | Cullowhee | Public | 98 | 6 |
| Wake Technical Community College | Raleigh | Public | 73 | 1 |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill | Public | 71 | 5 |
| Elon University | Elon | Private not-for-profit | 68 | 11 |
| High Point University | High Point | Private not-for-profit | 48 | 8 |
| Duke University | Durham | Private not-for-profit | 46 | 5 |
| Meredith College | Raleigh | Private not-for-profit | 46 | 11 |
What art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary earn in North Carolina
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $78,620. North Carolina pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in North Carolina
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 North Carolina
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 North Carolina.
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 Graphic Design, which awarded 429 degrees in North Carolina in 2024-25, 15.4% 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 43 programs to this occupation. The largest are Fine and Studio Arts, Design and Applied Arts, Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft, Music, plus 7 more. Together they graduate about 2,784 people a year in North Carolina.
How much do art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary earn in North Carolina?+
The median is $73,800 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 6.1% 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 North Carolina?+
60 institutions in North Carolina reported graduates from at least one of the 43 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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