Oklahoma·Production Occupations·SOC 51-5111

Best Prepress Technician programs in Oklahoma, ranked by enrollment

Format and proof text and images submitted by designers and clients into finished pages that can be printed. Includes digital and photo typesetting.

6 schools in Oklahoma run programs that feed this job, graduating 120 people a year. The job pays a median of $45,730 in Oklahoma across about 80 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledPlate MakerPrepress OperatorPrepress TechnicianElectronic Prepress Operator (EPP Operator)RouterRunnerSetterBankman
Graduates / yr
120
in Oklahoma
Median pay · Oklahoma
$45,730
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
80
people employed
Schools
6
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
79%
across those schools
Median net price
$19,619
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Oklahoma that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

2 programs in Oklahoma that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Oklahoma (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 Oklahoma page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 10.0301In Oklahoma
115
95.8%
4$25,121$26,958
2
CIP 10.0303In Oklahoma
5
4.2%
2$25,121$26,958

Top 6 schools in Oklahoma

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 0 of the 6 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Northeast Technology Center
Pryor, OK Public · 1 feeder programs
64Graphic Communications, General97%
2Indian Capital Technology Center - Muskogee
Muskogee, OK Public · 1 feeder programs
39Graphic Communications, General100%
3Southern Nazarene University
Bethany, OK Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
9Graphic Communications, General51%$19,619
4Great Plains Technology Center
Lawton, OK Public · 1 feeder programs
4Prepress/Desktop Publishing and Digital Imaging Design95%
5High Plains Technology Center
Woodward, OK Public · 1 feeder programs
3Graphic Communications, General80%
6Francis Tuttle Technology Center
Oklahoma City, OK Public · 1 feeder programs
1Prepress/Desktop Publishing and Digital Imaging Design52%

All 6 schools in Oklahoma

Every school in Oklahoma 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.

All schools in Oklahoma that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Northeast Technology CenterPryorPublic641
Indian Capital Technology Center - MuskogeeMuskogeePublic391
Southern Nazarene UniversityBethanyPrivate not-for-profit91
Great Plains Technology CenterLawtonPublic41
High Plains Technology CenterWoodwardPublic31
Francis Tuttle Technology CenterOklahoma CityPublic11

What prepress technicians and workers earn in Oklahoma

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Oklahoma
$45,730
Mean annual
$42,470
Jobs in state
80
What the range looks like
10th pct$22,400Median$45,73090th pct$57,250
Versus the national median
-6.1%

U.S. median $48,690. Oklahoma pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.31×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Oklahoma

Oklahoma City, OK
$46,460median
30 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
-14.6%
Decline
Openings per year
2,800
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
-3,800
26,200 → 22,300
Typical entry education
Postsecondary nondegree award

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 Prepress Technicians and Workers page.

How to become a Prepress Technician

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
Postsecondary nondegree award

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

MonitoringActive ListeningCritical ThinkingSpeakingReading ComprehensionWriting

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Oklahoma

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 8 majors mapped to Prepress Technicians and Workers8 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 10.0301Graphic Communications, General
  • 10.0302Printing Management
  • 10.0303Prepress/Desktop Publishing and Digital Imaging Design
  • 10.0305Graphic and Printing Equipment Operator, General Production
  • 10.0306Platemaker/Imager
  • 10.0307Printing Press Operator
  • 10.0308Computer Typography and Composition Equipment Operator
  • 10.0399Graphic Communications, Other

Common questions

Answers for people weighing prepress technicians and workers programs in Oklahoma.

What degree do you need to become a Prepress Technician?+

Postsecondary nondegree award is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Graphic Communications, General, which awarded 115 degrees in Oklahoma in 2024-25, 95.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Prepress Technician?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Graphic Communications. Together they graduate about 120 people a year in Oklahoma.

How much do prepress technicians and workers earn in Oklahoma?+

The median is $45,730 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 6.1% below the U.S. median of $48,690. 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 prepress technicians and workers growing?+

BLS projects a -14.6% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 2,800 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Oklahoma?+

6 institutions in Oklahoma 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 prepress technicians and workers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Plate Maker, Prepress Operator, Prepress Technician, Electronic Prepress Operator (EPP Operator) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 51-5111.

Prepress Technicians and Workers in other statesCaliforniaTexasFloridaOhioKansasIllinoisNew JerseyWisconsin

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 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected 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 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, 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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