undergradly.
Major · Visual & Performing Arts

The fine-arts catchall where the program varies by school

Fine Arts and Art Studies, Other (CIP 50.0799) is the IPEDS bucket for studio programs that don't map to a named medium like Painting, Sculpture, Drawing, Ceramics, Printmaking, or Fiber Arts. About 418 degrees are awarded annually across 84 colleges, and what the curriculum actually covers depends almost entirely on the institution — read the syllabus, not the CIP.

Schools offering
84
Annual completions
418
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$41k

About this major

Fine Arts and Art Studies, Other is the IPEDS catchall for studio programs that don't fit a named medium in the 50.07xx family — not Painting (50.0708), not Sculpture (50.0709), not Drawing (50.0710), not Ceramics (50.0711), not Fiber and Textile Arts (50.0712), not Metal and Jewelry Arts (50.0713), not Printmaking (50.0714), and not Intermedia and Multimedia (50.0706). The CIP definition is deliberately broad: "any instructional program in fine arts and art studies not listed above," with glass making cited as an example. In practice the bucket holds three different kinds of program. Some are interdisciplinary studio-plus-theory BAs at small liberal-arts colleges, where the curriculum combines several media with critical theory and art history. Some are specialized medium tracks (glass, encaustic, book arts, mixed-media installation) that don't have their own CIP. And some are administrative defaults at under-resourced art programs that didn't fit the named taxonomy. The honest read: when a school files under 50.0799, verify the specific medium focus, the theory load, and the faculty before enrolling.

The data describes a small, distributed field. Roughly 418 students graduate each year from 84 programs, with median earnings near $41,400 five years out and a bachelor's premium of about $7,900 over the associate's level. Three BLS occupations track to this CIP: fine artists including painters, sculptors, and illustrators ($60,560 median, with projected employment shrinking 1.2 percent), other artists and related workers ($72,760, no formal credential required), and postsecondary art, drama, and music teachers ($80,190, master's required). Those tracked wages overstate the typical working-artist outcome because BLS samples self-employed artists who already make the field viable; the realistic 5-year median sits in the low forties, with most graduates assembling parallel income across studio sales, teaching, museum or gallery work, production-art, and commissions.

The top-completing programs spread the field across institution types: County College of Morris (56 associate's), Skidmore College (24 bachelor's), UMass-Lowell, UMBC, Mary Washington, Adelphi, Fordham, UCLA, Academy of Art University, and Kenyon. No single school dominates, and most are publics or small liberal-arts colleges rather than dedicated art schools — a structural clue that this CIP captures programs whose interdisciplinary or specialized character doesn't fit the named medium codes used by Pratt, RISD, SCAD, MICA, MassArt, and CCA.

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

Occupation Median wage Job growth Typical education
Art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary $80k +1.7% Master's degree
Fine artists, including painters, sculptors, and illustrators $61k -1.2% Bachelor's degree
Artists and related workers, all other $73k +0.8% No formal educational credential
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Median 5-year earnings

$41k

Associate's vs Bachelor's — early-career earnings

Associate's

$34k

Bachelor's

$42k

Who this major is for

This path suits students who already make work outside of class, who want a studio program that explicitly combines media or theory rather than committing to a single named medium, and who are choosing a specific school's interdisciplinary or specialized program for substantive reasons — the glass studio at one institution, the combined studio-plus-theory BA at another, the book arts concentration at a third. It rewards people who read the curriculum carefully before enrolling and who treat the bachelor's as a runway toward an MFA, K-12 art-teacher certification, art therapy graduate work, art conservation graduate programs, or museum-education roles. Strong candidates plan a Plan B early: state K-12 certification add-on, art therapy or art conservation prerequisites, museum-education coursework, or production-art and scenic-painting fluency that opens IATSE and USA-829 union pathways. The catchall CIP makes parallel income engineering more important, not less — because the program brand alone won't carry the same legibility as a named sibling.

Reconsider if you want a salaried job waiting at graduation, since BLS projects fine-artist employment to shrink 1.2 percent and only a small fraction of MFA graduates support themselves through gallery sales alone. Reconsider if your medium is firmly painting, sculpture, ceramics, printmaking, or another named CIP — the named code carries more legibility for graduate admissions and for employer recognition, and the named programs at dedicated art schools (Pratt, RISD, SCAD, MICA, MassArt, CCA) have stronger network effects in those specific lanes. Reconsider especially if the school you're considering files under 50.0799 because its art program is small and under-resourced rather than because it's deliberately interdisciplinary — some 50.0799 programs are excellent combined-studio-plus-theory BAs at strong LACs, others are administrative catchalls for thin offerings. Verify before enrolling. Anyone weighing a $200,000-plus private price tag against a $41,400 median outcome should price that gap honestly, particularly if you would not also pursue art-teacher certification, art therapy prerequisites, or another parallel credential.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Fine Arts and Art Studies, Other

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
County College of Morris Randolph, NJ 56 0 56
Skidmore College Saratoga Springs, NY 0 24 24
University of Massachusetts-Lowell Lowell, MA 0 23 23
University of Maryland-Baltimore County Baltimore, MD 0 21 21
University of Mary Washington Fredericksburg, VA 0 21 21
Adelphi University Garden City, NY 0 20 20
Fordham University Bronx, NY 0 20 20
University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA 0 19 19
Academy of Art University San Francisco, CA 1 16 17
Kenyon College Gambier, OH 0 15 15
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities, Other

19,655 completions/yr

Art/Art Studies, General

13,626 completions/yr

Fine/Studio Arts, General

10,217 completions/yr

Graphic Design

7,841 completions/yr

Digital Arts

3,323 completions/yr

Visual and Performing Arts, General

2,952 completions/yr

Illustration

2,816 completions/yr

Art History, Criticism and Conservation

2,147 completions/yr

Considering this direction?

We've taken a hard look at the debt, earnings trajectory, and degree-level tradeoffs for the Fine Arts and Art Studies, Other field. Read our verdict before you commit.

Is Fine Arts and Art Studies, Other worth it? Read verdict
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

What does a Fine Arts and Art Studies, Other major actually study?
There is no single answer. The CIP definition is literally “any instructional program in fine arts and art studies not listed above,” and the example IPEDS gives is glass making — a clue that the bucket holds specialized or interdisciplinary studio programs that don't fit Painting, Sculpture, Ceramics, Printmaking, Drawing, Fiber, Metal and Jewelry, or Intermedia. At Skidmore or Kenyon the code often signals an interdisciplinary studio BA combining theory, criticism, and several media. At UCLA or UMass-Lowell it can flag a hybrid concentration. At a community college like County College of Morris it usually marks an applied associate's. The shared core is foundational studio practice plus art history and critique — the specifics depend on the program you choose.
How does this compare to Art General, Painting, Sculpture, and the other 50.07xx CIPs?
Named CIPs in the 50.07xx family signal a defined medium and curriculum. Art and Art Studies, General (50.0701) is the broad umbrella with about 13,626 completions; Fine and Studio Arts, General (50.0702) holds another 10,217. Painting (50.0708), Sculpture (50.0709), Drawing (50.0710), Ceramics (50.0711), Fiber and Textile Arts (50.0712), Metal and Jewelry Arts (50.0713), and Printmaking (50.0714) each commit to a specific medium. Art History (50.0703) is the academic-research path. Intermedia and Multimedia (50.0706) covers cross-media work. This “Other” bucket holds the 418 degrees that don't fit any of those — usually because the program is interdisciplinary studio-plus-theory by design or sits outside the standard medium taxonomy. If you want a recognizable industry credential, a named sibling CIP carries more legibility.
How much do graduates earn?
Median earnings five years after graduation sit near $41,400 across all degree levels, with bachelor's holders around $41,900 and associate's holders around $34,000. The reported career destinations include fine artists including painters, sculptors, and illustrators ($60,560 median, but with -1.2 percent projected job growth), other artists and related workers ($72,760, no formal credential required), and postsecondary art, drama, and music teachers ($80,190, with a master's required). Those tracked wages overstate the typical working-artist outcome because of self-employment selection bias — the realistic 5-year median sits in the low forties, with most graduates assembling parallel income from teaching, gallery work, commissions, or production-art roles.
Where do graduates actually work?
Because this is a catchall CIP, destinations track the specific medium emphasis of the program and the named sibling CIPs. The realistic working set: K-12 art education (state certification required), museum education and collections-adjacent roles like registrar or preparator, gallery work and art handling, art conservation (separate MA plus chemistry prerequisites), art therapy (separate MA plus ATR-BC credential), production-art and scenic painting in film and theater (USA-829 and IATSE union work), set decoration and props, public art commissions through municipal percent-for-art programs (NYC DCLA, San Francisco Arts Commission, LA County Arts, Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, Chicago Public Art), tattoo art, adjunct or community-college teaching with an MFA, and self-employed studio practice supported by commissions, grants, and residencies. Postsecondary teaching ($80,190 median) requires a master's and years of practice, so it functions as a long-term destination rather than an entry-level outcome.
How competitive is the field, and what about AI?
The fine-artists category is one of the few BLS occupations projected to shrink — minus 1.2 percent over the decade — and only a small fraction of MFA graduates support themselves through gallery sales alone. AI image-generation tools have compressed routine illustration and commercial-graphic commodity work since 2022, so the durable lanes are original studio practice with a collector market, in-person craft (ceramics, sculpture, fiber, glass, jewelry, metalsmithing), gallery and museum work, public-art commissions, art education, and art therapy. Anything that depends on physical presence, original authorship, or institutional sponsorship has held up; routine commercial illustration has not.
Which schools graduate the most students under this CIP?
County College of Morris in New Jersey leads with 56 completions — all at the associate's level — followed by Skidmore College (24 bachelor's), University of Massachusetts-Lowell (23), University of Maryland-Baltimore County (21), University of Mary Washington (21), Adelphi University (20), Fordham University (20), UCLA (19), Academy of Art University (17), and Kenyon College (15). The list is unusually flat — no single program dominates — and skews toward small liberal-arts colleges and mid-size publics that have built interdisciplinary studio tracks rather than committing to a single named medium. That distribution is itself the signal: this CIP exists because specific programs at specific schools don't fit the named taxonomy.
Do I need a bachelor's, or is an associate's enough?
It depends on the destination. The earnings data shows a meaningful gap: bachelor's completers report median five-year earnings around $41,900, while associate's completers report roughly $34,000 — a difference of about $7,900. Almost all of the top-completing programs at the bachelor's level (Skidmore, UMass-Lowell, UMBC, Mary Washington, Adelphi, Fordham, UCLA, Kenyon) are four-year schools, and a bachelor's is the conventional prerequisite for an MFA, K-12 art-teaching certification, art therapy graduate programs, art conservation programs, and museum-education roles. The associate's is reasonable as a transfer step — County College of Morris alone graduates more associate-level students under this CIP than any bachelor's program — but for the named graduate pathways and most arts-education licensure, the bachelor's is the working credential.
Is the MFA worth the cost?
The MFA is the terminal credential for college-level art teaching and serious gallery representation, but the financial picture is brutal at most programs. Top MFAs vary substantially in funding: Yale, Columbia, RISD, SAIC, UCLA, USC Roski, Hunter, CCA, MICA, Cranbrook, Bard, and Carnegie Mellon are all credible programs, but only a few are fully funded — most require students to absorb two years of tuition plus opportunity cost on top of an already wage-soft undergraduate outcome. With postsecondary art teaching projected to grow only 1.7 percent and adjunct rather than tenure-track work being the realistic entry point, run the math honestly. The MFA can be the right call for a serious studio practice, but it is not an automatic earnings premium and it is not required for most non-academic destinations.