Best Curator programs in Virginia, ranked by enrollment
Administer collections, such as artwork, collectibles, historic items, or scientific specimens of museums or other institutions.
13 schools in Virginia run programs that feed this job, graduating 107 people a year. The job pays a median of $58,200 in Virginia across about 450 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Virginia that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
3 programs in Virginia that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Virginia (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 Virginia page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 50.0703In Virginia → | 82 | 76.6% | 10 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 2 | CIP 54.0105In Virginia → | 18 | 16.8% | 3 | $31,217 | $24,000 |
| 3 | CIP 30.1401In Virginia → | 7 | 6.5% | 1 | — | $21,295 |
Top 13 schools in Virginia
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 7 of the 13 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Mason University Fairfax, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 19 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | — | 68% | — | 87% |
| 2 | Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA Public · 2 feeder programs | 19 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $21,916 | 63% | — | 93% |
| 3 | Liberty University Lynchburg, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Public/Applied History | $33,456 | 65% | $28,911 | 99% |
| 4 | Old Dominion University Norfolk, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $27,535 | 46% | — | 90% |
| 5 | University of Mary Washington Fredericksburg, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $24,013 | 66% | — | 80% |
| 6 | Brightpoint Community College Chester, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Museology/Museum Studies | — | 38% | — | — |
| 7 | University of Richmond University of Richmond, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | — | 85% | $24,049 | 22% |
| 8 | University of Virginia - Main Campus Charlottesville, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $23,372 | 96% | — | 17% |
| 9 | Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | — | 94% | $11,983 | 14% |
| 10 | Sweet Briar College Sweet Briar, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | — | 52% | $22,704 | 76% |
| 11 | James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | $33,501 | 80% | — | 72% |
| 12 | Randolph College Lynchburg, VA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Art History, Criticism and Conservation | — | 46% | $18,525 | 94% |
| 13 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Public/Applied History | $33,319 | 86% | — | 55% |
All 13 schools in Virginia
Every school in Virginia 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Mason University | Fairfax | Public | 19 | 1 |
| Virginia Commonwealth University | Richmond | Public | 19 | 2 |
| Liberty University | Lynchburg | Private not-for-profit | 13 | 1 |
| Old Dominion University | Norfolk | Public | 11 | 1 |
| University of Mary Washington | Fredericksburg | Public | 9 | 1 |
| Brightpoint Community College | Chester | Public | 7 | 1 |
| University of Richmond | University of Richmond | Private not-for-profit | 7 | 1 |
| University of Virginia - Main Campus | Charlottesville | Public | 5 | 1 |
| Washington and Lee University | Lexington | Private not-for-profit | 5 | 1 |
| Sweet Briar College | Sweet Briar | Private not-for-profit | 4 | 1 |
| James Madison University | Harrisonburg | Public | 3 | 1 |
| Randolph College | Lynchburg | Private not-for-profit | 3 | 1 |
| Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | Blacksburg | Public | 2 | 1 |
What curators earn in Virginia
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $63,420. Virginia pays below the national figure.
Concentrated here: Virginia employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Virginia
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 Curators page.
How to become a Curator
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 Virginia
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 6 majors mapped to Curators5 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 30.1401Museology/Museum Studies
- 30.5201Digital Humanities and Textual Studies, General
- 30.5202Digital Humanities
- 30.5203Textual Studies(no graduates reported)
- 50.0703Art History, Criticism and Conservation
- 54.0105Public/Applied History
Common questions
Answers for people weighing curators programs in Virginia.
What degree do you need to become a Curator?+
Master'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 82 degrees in Virginia in 2024-25, 76.6% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Curator?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Fine and Studio Arts, History, Museology/Museum Studies. Together they graduate about 107 people a year in Virginia.
How much do curators earn in Virginia?+
The median is $58,200 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 8.2% below the U.S. median of $63,420. 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 curators growing?+
BLS projects a +7.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 1,800 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Virginia?+
13 institutions in Virginia 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 curators work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Curator, Museum Curator, Collections Curator, Collections Manager among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-4012.
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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