Best Artist programs in Washington, ranked by enrollment
All artists and related workers not listed.
17 schools in Washington run programs that feed this job, graduating 272 people a year. The job pays a median of — in Washington across about 130 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Washington that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
7 programs in Washington that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Washington (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 Washington page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 50.0702In Washington → | 120 | 44.1% | 8 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 2 | CIP 50.0402In Washington → | 59 | 21.7% | 3 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 3 | CIP 50.0409In Washington → | 49 | 18.0% | 5 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 4 | CIP 50.0410In Washington → | 22 | 8.1% | 3 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 5 | CIP 50.0101In Washington → | 15 | 5.5% | 2 | $24,752 | $25,963 |
| 6 | CIP 50.0799In Washington → | 6 | 2.2% | 2 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
| 7 | CIP 50.0102In Washington → | 1 | 0.4% | 1 | $24,752 | $25,963 |
Top 17 schools in Washington
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 7 of the 17 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington State University Pullman, WA Public · 2 feeder programs | 65 | Graphic Design | $44,823 | 60% | — | 87% |
| 2 | Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 29 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $26,123 | 54% | — | 91% |
| 3 | Seattle Central College Seattle, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 25 | Commercial and Advertising Art | $29,775 | 32% | — | — |
| 4 | Seattle University Seattle, WA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 25 | Commercial and Advertising Art | — | 76% | $31,900 | 77% |
| 5 | Eastern Washington University Cheney, WA Public · 2 feeder programs | 23 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 43% | — | 91% |
| 6 | Whitman College Walla Walla, WA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 23 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 81% | $28,508 | 38% |
| 7 | Spokane Falls Community College Spokane, WA Public · 2 feeder programs | 19 | Commercial and Advertising Art | $21,508 | 32% | — | — |
| 8 | Pacific Lutheran University Tacoma, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | $23,766 | 69% | $19,944 | 78% |
| 9 | Lake Washington Institute of Technology Kirkland, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Illustration | — | 37% | — | — |
| 10 | Whitworth University Spokane, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Graphic Design | — | 71% | $23,510 | 90% |
| 11 | Western Washington University Bellingham, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Illustration | $31,078 | 65% | — | 93% |
| 12 | Gonzaga University Spokane, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 86% | $30,006 | 82% |
| 13 | Seattle Pacific University Seattle, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Illustration | $39,248 | 62% | $24,653 | 83% |
| 14 | Walla Walla Community College Walla Walla, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Graphic Design | — | 38% | — | — |
| 15 | Walla Walla University College Place, WA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 3 | Fine/Studio Arts, General | — | 60% | $22,260 | — |
| 16 | Wenatchee Valley College Wenatchee, WA Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Graphic Design | — | 43% | — | — |
| 17 | Heritage University Toppenish, WA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Fine Arts and Art Studies, Other | — | 54% | $13,380 | — |
All 17 schools in Washington
Every school in Washington 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington State University | Pullman | Public | 65 | 2 |
| Central Washington University | Ellensburg | Public | 29 | 1 |
| Seattle Central College | Seattle | Public | 25 | 1 |
| Seattle University | Seattle | Private not-for-profit | 25 | 3 |
| Eastern Washington University | Cheney | Public | 23 | 2 |
| Whitman College | Walla Walla | Private not-for-profit | 23 | 2 |
| Spokane Falls Community College | Spokane | Public | 19 | 2 |
| Pacific Lutheran University | Tacoma | Private not-for-profit | 17 | 1 |
| Lake Washington Institute of Technology | Kirkland | Public | 13 | 1 |
| Whitworth University | Spokane | Private not-for-profit | 10 | 1 |
| Western Washington University | Bellingham | Public | 6 | 1 |
| Gonzaga University | Spokane | Private not-for-profit | 5 | 1 |
| Seattle Pacific University | Seattle | Private not-for-profit | 3 | 1 |
| Walla Walla Community College | Walla Walla | Public | 3 | 1 |
| Walla Walla University | College Place | Private not-for-profit | 3 | 2 |
What artists and related workers, all other earn in Washington
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Washington
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 Washington
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 Washington.
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 120 degrees in Washington in 2024-25, 44.1% 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 272 people a year in Washington.
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 Washington?+
17 institutions in Washington 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
Explore every U.S. college in one conversation
Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card