Best Artist programs in Pennsylvania, ranked by enrollment
All artists and related workers not listed.
67 schools in Pennsylvania run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,155 people a year. The job pays a median of $86,260 in Pennsylvania across about 100 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Pennsylvania that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
7 programs in Pennsylvania that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Pennsylvania (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 Pennsylvania page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 50.0702In Pennsylvania → | 369 | 31.9% | 37 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 2 | CIP 50.0409In Pennsylvania → | 334 | 28.9% | 28 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 3 | CIP 50.0102In Pennsylvania → | 165 | 14.3% | 12 | $24,752 | $25,963 |
| 4 | CIP 50.0402In Pennsylvania → | 136 | 11.8% | 11 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 5 | CIP 50.0410In Pennsylvania → | 78 | 6.8% | 6 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 6 | CIP 50.0101In Pennsylvania → | 60 | 5.2% | 10 | $24,752 | $25,963 |
| 7 | CIP 50.0799In Pennsylvania → | 13 | 1.1% | 4 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
Top 25 schools in Pennsylvania
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 23 of the 67 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kutztown University of Pennsylvania Kutztown, PA Public · 3 feeder programs | 149 | Commercial and Advertising Art | $40,286 | 54% | — | 91% |
| 2 | Pennsylvania Western University California, PA Public · 3 feeder programs | 120 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $21,523 | 52% | — | 94% |
| 3 | Moore College of Art and Design Philadelphia, PA Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 101 | Digital Arts | $27,107 | 57% | $43,204 | 56% |
| 4 | Drexel University Philadelphia, PA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 69 | Graphic Design | $38,154 | 78% | $36,004 | 79% |
| 5 | Northampton County Area Community College Bethlehem, PA Public · 2 feeder programs | 39 | Graphic Design | $19,022 | 24% | — | — |
| 6 | Pennsylvania State University - Main Campus University Park, PA Public · 3 feeder programs | 36 | Graphic Design | $43,324 | 86% | — | 61% |
| 7 | Community College of Allegheny County Pittsburgh, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 33 | Graphic Design | — | 24% | — | — |
| 8 | Delaware County Community College Media, PA Public · 2 feeder programs | 30 | Commercial and Advertising Art | — | 24% | — | — |
| 9 | Pennsylvania College of Art and Design Lancaster, PA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 29 | Illustration | $25,830 | 69% | $29,257 | 99% |
| 10 | Marywood University Scranton, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 27 | Graphic Design | $25,727 | 72% | $21,769 | 61% |
| 11 | East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania East Stroudsburg, PA Public · 2 feeder programs | 25 | Visual and Performing Arts, General | $22,349 | 43% | — | 92% |
| 12 | Temple University Philadelphia, PA Public · 3 feeder programs | 24 | Visual and Performing Arts, General | $20,667 | 75% | — | 80% |
| 13 | Bucks County Community College Newtown, PA Public · 2 feeder programs | 22 | Commercial and Advertising Art | — | 32% | — | — |
| 14 | York College of Pennsylvania York, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 22 | Graphic Design | $30,567 | 64% | $18,682 | 74% |
| 15 | Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania Bloomsburg, PA Public · 2 feeder programs | 21 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $29,377 | 54% | — | 93% |
| 16 | Chatham University Pittsburgh, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 20 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 63% | $23,700 | 62% |
| 17 | Messiah University Mechanicsburg, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 19 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 75% | $25,675 | 79% |
| 18 | Luzerne County Community College Nanticoke, PA Public · 3 feeder programs | 18 | Commercial and Advertising Art | — | 23% | — | — |
| 19 | University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $26,709 | 85% | — | 58% |
| 20 | Arcadia University Glenside, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 17 | Illustration | — | 67% | $23,796 | 80% |
| 21 | Harrisburg Area Community College Harrisburg, PA Public · 2 feeder programs | 16 | Graphic Design | — | 21% | — | — |
| 22 | Susquehanna University Selinsgrove, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 16 | Graphic Design | $42,510 | 82% | $23,620 | 81% |
| 23 | Lehigh Carbon Community College Schnecksville, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Graphic Design | $27,896 | 30% | — | — |
| 24 | University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 14 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $38,820 | 97% | $22,055 | 5% |
| 25 | Pennsylvania College of Technology Williamsport, PA Public · 2 feeder programs | 13 | Graphic Design | $45,572 | 53% | — | — |
All 67 schools in Pennsylvania
Every school in Pennsylvania 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kutztown University of Pennsylvania | Kutztown | Public | 149 | 3 |
| Pennsylvania Western University | California | Public | 120 | 3 |
| Moore College of Art and Design | Philadelphia | Private not-for-profit | 101 | 4 |
| Drexel University | Philadelphia | Private not-for-profit | 69 | 3 |
| Northampton County Area Community College | Bethlehem | Public | 39 | 2 |
| Pennsylvania State University - Main Campus | University Park | Public | 36 | 3 |
| Community College of Allegheny County | Pittsburgh | Public | 33 | 1 |
| Delaware County Community College | Media | Public | 30 | 2 |
| Pennsylvania College of Art and Design | Lancaster | Private not-for-profit | 29 | 3 |
| Marywood University | Scranton | Private not-for-profit | 27 | 2 |
| East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania | East Stroudsburg | Public | 25 | 2 |
| Temple University | Philadelphia | Public | 24 | 3 |
| Bucks County Community College | Newtown | Public | 22 | 2 |
| York College of Pennsylvania | York | Private not-for-profit | 22 | 2 |
| Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania | Bloomsburg | Public | 21 | 2 |
What artists and related workers, all other earn in Pennsylvania
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $71,240. Pennsylvania pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Pennsylvania
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 Artists and Related Workers, All Other page.
How to become a Artist
- Typical entry education
- No formal educational credential
- On-the-job training
- Long-term on-the-job training
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Pennsylvania
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 9 majors mapped to Artists and Related Workers, All Other9 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 50.0101Visual and Performing Arts, General
- 50.0102Digital Arts
- 50.0201Crafts/Craft Design, Folk Art and Artisanry
- 50.0402Commercial and Advertising Art
- 50.0409Graphic Design
- 50.0410Illustration
- 50.0702Fine/Studio Arts, General
- 50.0799Fine Arts and Art Studies, Other
- 50.1101Community/Environmental/Socially-Engaged Art
Common questions
Answers for people weighing artists and related workers, all other programs in Pennsylvania.
What degree do you need to become an Artist?+
No formal educational credential 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 369 degrees in Pennsylvania in 2024-25, 31.9% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Artist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 7 programs to this occupation. The largest are Design and Applied Arts, Fine and Studio Arts, Visual and Performing Arts. Together they graduate about 1,155 people a year in Pennsylvania.
How much do artists and related workers, all other earn in Pennsylvania?+
The median is $86,260 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 21.1% above the U.S. median of $71,240. 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 artists and related workers, all other growing?+
BLS projects a +0.8% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 1,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Pennsylvania?+
67 institutions in Pennsylvania reported graduates from at least one of the 7 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.
Do you need training or experience beyond a degree?+
BLS lists 'None' for related work experience and 'Long-term on-the-job training' for on-the-job training typically needed to reach competency.
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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