Metal Arts Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Metal Arts maps to BLS occupations averaging about $97,893, with roughly 277,560 workers nationwide in those roles. Median in-state published tuition is about $8,092; common paths include Makeup Artists, Theatrical and Performance and Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education.
Key Statistics
Metal Arts: what the data shows
Common questions about metal arts degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a metal arts degree?
A Metal Arts program is classified under NCES CIP 50.0714 in the Fine and Studio Arts field family (50.07).
A program that focuses on the development of individual artistic expression and technical skills necessary for fabricating refined metal works. Includes instruction in aesthetics, anodizing, art history, casting, design, electroforming, enameling, metalsmithing, sculpture, two and three-dimensional design, wax carving, and welding
IPEDS counted 6 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
Types of metal arts degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 50.07 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- Art History, Criticism and Conservation (CIP 50.0703)
- Art/Art Studies, General (CIP 50.0701)
- Ceramic Arts and Ceramics (CIP 50.0711)
- Drawing (CIP 50.0705)
- Fiber, Textile and Weaving Arts (CIP 50.0712)
- Fine & Studio Arts (CIP 50.0702)
- Intermedia/Multimedia (CIP 50.0706)
- Jewelry Arts (CIP 50.0713)
- Painting (CIP 50.0708)
- Printmaking (CIP 50.0710)
- Sculpture (CIP 50.0709)
How long does it take to get a metal arts degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 50.0714 in our file:
- 6 Bachelor's (46.2% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 7 Master's (53.8% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What degree do you need?
For Makeup Artists, Theatrical and Performance (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%).
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a metal arts degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Metal Arts to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Makeup Artists, Theatrical and Performance | 3,320 | $50,280 |
| Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education | 114,410 | $61,430 |
| Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary | 97,890 | $80,190 |
| Floral Designers | 40,160 | $36,120 |
| Craft Artists | 4,370 | $38,480 |
| Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas | 17,410 | $59,600 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a metal arts degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Fine and Studio Arts bachelor's program family: median debt $30,451, median earnings $41,367 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 1.24.
About 8.3% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $8,092 and median net price is $16,670.
We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Metal Arts and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$8,092 Median In-State Public
$42,432 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Metal Arts majors are, on average, $8,092 for in-state public colleges, and $42,432 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Metal Arts programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
100,000 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Metal Arts from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Metal Arts.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 163,164 |
| 2 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 163,164 |
| 3 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
| 4 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
| 5 | Texas A&M University-College Station | TX | 59,615 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Metal Arts programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tohono O'odham Community College | AZ | $932 |
| 2 | Barstow Community College | CA | $1,104 |
| 3 | Taft College | CA | $1,108 |
| 4 | Antelope Valley Community College District | CA | $1,124 |
| 5 | Yuba College | CA | $1,128 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Metal Arts programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canada College | CA | $32 |
| 2 | College of the Sequoias | CA | $480 |
| 3 | College of the Sequoias | CA | $480 |
| 4 | College of San Mateo | CA | $536 |
| 5 | Henry Ford College | MI | $660 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Metal Arts programs.
Graduation Rates
Graduation rate data is not available for this degree program.
Graduation/completion rates for Metal Arts programs across institutions.
Where students complete this major (IPEDS)
Bachelor's-level completions (IPEDS Completions, award level 5) summed by institution state. State is taken from IPEDS Directory (HD2023) for each reporting institution.
Geographic concentration
The largest number of reported bachelor's completions for Metal Arts is in NY (6 completions). That state represents about 100.0% of U.S. bachelor's completions reported for this CIP in the IPEDS file we use.
Among states, the highest concentration relative to all bachelor's degrees awarded in-state is NY (0.00% of that state's bachelor's completions).
Top states by count of bachelor's completions for this CIP (IPEDS).
| State | Bachelor's completions (this CIP) | % of U.S. total (this CIP) | % of state's all bachelor's |
|---|---|---|---|
| NY | 6 | 100.0% | 0.00% |
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 50.07 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- Art History, Criticism and Conservation CIP 50.0703
- Art/Art Studies, General CIP 50.0701
- Ceramic Arts and Ceramics CIP 50.0711
- Drawing CIP 50.0705
- Fiber, Textile and Weaving Arts CIP 50.0712
- Fine & Studio Arts CIP 50.0702
- Intermedia/Multimedia CIP 50.0706
- Jewelry Arts CIP 50.0713
- Painting CIP 50.0708
- Printmaking CIP 50.0710
- Sculpture CIP 50.0709
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 50.0714 in the survey year used in our extract (13 total across levels below).
- 6 Bachelor's (46.2% of IPEDS total)
- 7 Master's (53.8% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
Careers & Jobs
Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.
Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $97,893. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Metal Arts graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Makeup Artists, Theatrical and Performance | $122,805 | 3,320 |
| Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education | $91,347 | 114,410 |
| Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary | $130,318 | 97,890 |
| Floral Designers | $49,284 | 40,160 |
| Craft Artists | $88,430 | 4,370 |
| Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas | $68,341 | 17,410 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Program outcomes (College Scorecard)
National medians across bachelor's programs in the Fine and Studio Arts CIP family (90 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Metal Arts graduate.
- $30,451 median federal loan debt among completers
- $41,367 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 1.24 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 8.3% of graduates not working and not enrolled one year out (program cohort)
Source: College Scorecard program-level outcomes aggregated by 4-digit CIP family.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$97,893 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Metal Arts majors is $97,893.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Metal Arts majors.
Occupations by Share
277,560 2023 Workforce
The number of Metal Arts graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Metal Arts by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Metal Arts in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Metal Arts.
Age distribution for Metal Arts degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
6 Total Degrees Awarded
6 Female (100.00%)
Gender distribution of Metal Arts degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
2 White (33.33%)
1 Black or African American (16.67%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Metal Arts degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Metal Arts are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Metal Arts.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Metal Arts field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Metal Arts majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Metal Arts majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for Metal Arts majors.
About
A program that focuses on the development of individual artistic expression and technical skills necessary for fabricating refined metal works. Includes instruction in aesthetics, anodizing, art history, casting, design, electroforming, enameling, metalsmithing, sculpture, two and three-dimensional design, wax carving, and welding
In 2023, 100,000 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Metal Arts.
CIP Code
50.0714 - Metal Arts
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $30,451 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $41,367, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 1.24. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Metal Arts graduate.
About 8.3% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians. That is a program-level mobility signal, not a national underemployment rate.
Women earned 100.0% of 13 Metal Arts completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $97,893. The largest mapped role by headcount is Makeup Artists, Theatrical and Performance (3,320 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $8,092 in-state at public colleges and $42,432 at private institutions for programs in this field.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.