undergradly.
Major · Visual & Performing Arts

An interdisciplinary arts major for code, video, sound, and installation

Intermedia/Multimedia (CIP 50.0706) is the art-school umbrella for interdisciplinary practice — video, sound, installation, performance, creative coding, generative art, and AR/VR rolled into one studio degree. About 679 students complete it across 46 institutions, and bachelor’s graduates show $41,854 in five-year tracked wages.

Schools offering
46
Annual completions
679
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$41k

About this major

Intermedia/Multimedia (CIP 50.0706) is the federal classification’s name for the interdisciplinary studio practice that art schools have offered for decades — programs that prepare you to express ideas across two and three dimensions using video, sound, performance, installation, code, and emerging formats simultaneously. Coursework alternates between studio production (video editing, sound design, fabrication, creative coding, sometimes AR/VR or generative art workflows), critique seminars where work-in-progress goes up for peer and faculty review, art history and theory, and a senior thesis exhibition that functions as the credential graduates carry into the field. Specific content varies by institution: gallery-track art schools lean conceptual and installation-heavy, while university art departments often blend in animation, game art, or design.

The major fits students who already make work — short videos, sound pieces, installations, code-driven visuals — and want a structured environment of studio time, equipment access, and regular critique. Comfort with ambiguity helps, since intermedia projects often start without a fixed medium or outcome and develop through iteration. Self-direction matters too: most programs expect students to define a personal practice through electives and thesis work rather than follow a single named track. Sustained tolerance for revision and public critique is part of the deal.

On scale, 679 students complete this CIP each year across 46 institutions — small relative to neighbors like Graphic Design (7,841) or Fine/Studio Arts, General (10,217). Top concentrations include Full Sail University (298 completions, mostly bachelor’s), University of Oregon (73), Maryland Institute College of Art (48), and the College of New Jersey (31). Bachelor’s completers report median five-year earnings of $41,854; associate’s completers report $33,977. The named BLS destinations in the packet — art directors at $111,040 and special effects artists and animators at $99,800 — are mid-career, portfolio-built titles rather than entry points, and postsecondary art teaching at $80,190 requires a master’s.

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 directors $111k +4.2% Bachelor's degree
Art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary $80k +1.7% Master's degree
Special effects artists and animators $100k +1.6% Bachelor's degree
Fine artists, including painters, sculptors, and illustrators $61k -1.2% Bachelor's degree
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

You may thrive here if you already keep a regular studio or production practice and want a degree built around making, critiquing, and exhibiting work; if you’re drawn to interdisciplinary work — video plus sound plus installation, or code plus performance — rather than a single named medium like Painting (50.0708) or Graphic Design (50.0409); if you can absorb tough critique and revise without flinching; if you accept the $41,854 bachelor’s five-year earnings figure as a realistic early-career baseline rather than a ceiling; and if you’re curious about how generative AI tools fit into a working artist’s practice.

Think twice if you want a clear, named track that signals straight to employers — Graphic Design (7,841 completions) or Digital Arts (3,323) communicate a more legible commercial path than 50.0706 does. Reconsider if your goal is steady W-2 work from year one, since most realistic early destinations (motion design, post-production, museum tech, AR/VR project work, freelance video) are project-based and uneven. Pause if your interest sits in stock motion, basic VFX, or generic short-form content — those segments are most exposed to generative AI displacement. And factor in geography and grad-school plans honestly: gallery and curatorial paths effectively require an MFA, MFAs frequently come with significant debt, and arts careers concentrate in a handful of metros where rent runs ahead of mid-career arts incomes.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Intermedia/Multimedia

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

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
Full Sail University Winter Park, FL 24 274 298
University of Oregon Eugene, OR 0 73 73
Maryland Institute College of Art Baltimore, MD 0 48 48
University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg, MS 0 32 32
The College of New Jersey Ewing, NJ 0 31 31
Marist University Poughkeepsie, NY 0 26 26
Augusta University Augusta, GA 0 26 26
Massachusetts College of Art and Design Boston, MA 0 18 18
Missouri State University-Springfield Springfield, MO 0 17 17
California Lutheran University Thousand Oaks, CA 0 15 15
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

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

Art History, Criticism and Conservation

2,147 completions/yr

Painting

457 completions/yr

Fine Arts and Art Studies, Other

418 completions/yr

Considering this direction?

We've taken a hard look at the debt, earnings trajectory, and degree-level tradeoffs for the Intermedia/Multimedia field. Read our verdict before you commit.

Is Intermedia/Multimedia worth it? Read verdict
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

What do Intermedia/Multimedia majors actually study day-to-day?
The CIP definition frames it as expressing ideas in two or three dimensions through the simultaneous use of multiple materials and media. In practice, that means studio courses in video, sound, performance, installation, and increasingly creative coding, generative art, and AR/VR — alternated with critique seminars, art history, and a senior thesis exhibition. Programs vary widely: at art schools the work leans gallery and conceptual, while university art departments often blend in design, animation, or game art. The thesis show is typically the credential that travels with you.
Is this the same as a Digital Arts or Graphic Design major?
No, and the difference matters for placement. Graphic Design (50.0409, 7,841 completions) trains you for commercial visual communication and is the cleanest path to agency or in-house design jobs. Digital Arts (50.0102, 3,323 completions) typically centers screen-based and animation work. Intermedia/Multimedia (679 completions across 46 schools) is the smaller, more conceptual cousin — the gallery-and-installation track rather than the commercial-design track. If your portfolio goal is paid design work from year one, Graphic Design signals that more clearly to employers.
What kinds of jobs do graduates actually land?
The packet lists art directors at $111,040 median and special effects artists and animators at $99,800, but those titles are mid-career and portfolio-built rather than entry points. Postsecondary art teaching ($80,190) requires a master’s, usually an MFA. Realistic early destinations are adjacent to the gallery dream: motion designer at an ad agency, video editor or post-production assistant, museum tech or AV staff, edtech content producer, AR/VR artist on a studio team, and a long tail of freelance project work. Five-year median earnings of $41,854 reflect that mix.
How is generative AI changing this field?
Honestly, it’s reshaping a lot of the production work that pays the rent. Tools like Runway, Sora, Stable Diffusion video, and ElevenLabs voice are eating into stock motion, basic VFX, generic concept video, and short-form content — exactly the freelance work intermedia grads often pick up while building a thesis or gallery practice. Less exposed are live performance, site-specific installation, work tied to physical materials and bodies in space, and concept-driven gallery practice where the artist is the value. The honest move is to add generative tools as part of your practice rather than ignore them.
Do I need an MFA after this?
It depends on the destination. The gallery-representation, museum-curatorial, and tenure-track teaching paths effectively require an MFA — postsecondary art, drama, and music teachers ($80,190 median, 1.7% growth) is a master’s-required role in the packet. The commercial paths — motion design, post-production, AR/VR, museum tech, edtech — generally don’t require it. MFAs at top programs are two-to-three-year residencies and frequently come with significant debt; weigh that honestly against the $41,854 five-year bachelor’s earnings figure and the realistic timeline to mid-career arts incomes.
How competitive is the early-career market?
Fierce, and pair any growth headlines with reality. Fine artists show -1.2% projected growth, and arts hiring runs on portfolio, thesis show, and network rather than GPA. The 46 schools in this CIP cluster heavily — Full Sail University alone graduates 298 of the 679 total, with smaller cohorts at the University of Oregon (73), Maryland Institute College of Art (48), and the College of New Jersey (31). Top art schools open doors to grants and gallery contacts; commercial-leaning programs like Full Sail open doors to studio post-production work. Geography matters: gallery and museum jobs concentrate in NYC, LA, and Chicago; commercial production clusters in LA, NYC, and Atlanta.