Printing Press Operator Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Printing Press Operator maps to BLS occupations averaging about $50,750, with roughly 319,540 workers nationwide in those roles. Median in-state published tuition is about $4,334; common paths include Printing Press Operators and Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic.
Key Statistics
Printing Press Operator: what the data shows
Common questions about printing press operator degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a printing press operator degree?
A Printing Press Operator program is classified under NCES CIP 10.0307 in the Graphic Communications field family (10.03).
A program that prepares individuals to apply technical knowledge and skills to set up, operate, and maintain printing presses
IPEDS counted 11 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
Types of printing press operator degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 10.03 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- Animation, Interactive Technology, Video Graphics, and Special Effects (CIP 10.0304)
- Computer Typography and Composition Equipment Operator (CIP 10.0308)
- Graphic Communications, General (CIP 10.0301)
- Graphic and Printing Equipment Operator, General Production (CIP 10.0305)
- Platemaker/Imager (CIP 10.0306)
- Prepress/Desktop Publishing and Digital Imaging Design (CIP 10.0303)
- Printing Management (CIP 10.0302)
How long does it take to get a printing press operator degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 10.0307 in our file:
- 11 Bachelor's (100.0% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
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 Printing Press Operators (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%). Bachelor's awards account for a majority of IPEDS completions for CIP 10.0307, but occupation data show multiple pathways.
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a printing press operator degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Printing Press Operator 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Printing Press Operators | 145,110 | $45,160 |
| Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic | 174,430 | $45,590 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a printing press operator degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Graphic Communications bachelor's program family: median debt $45,257, median earnings $43,283 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 1.78.
About 9.2% 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 $4,334 and median net price is $10,113.
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 Printing Press Operator and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$4,334 Median In-State Public
$38,447 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Printing Press Operator majors are, on average, $4,334 for in-state public colleges, and $38,447 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Printing Press Operator programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
100,000 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Printing Press Operator from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Printing Press Operator.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
| 2 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
| 3 | Arizona State University Digital Immersion | AZ | 53,782 |
| 4 | University of Maryland Global Campus | MD | 49,664 |
| 5 | Miami Dade College | FL | 46,182 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Printing Press Operator programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antelope Valley Community College District | CA | $1,124 |
| 2 | Antelope Valley Community College District | CA | $1,124 |
| 3 | Lake Tahoe Community College | CA | $1,131 |
| 4 | Lake Tahoe Community College | CA | $1,131 |
| 5 | El Camino Community College District | CA | $1,144 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Printing Press Operator programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canada College | CA | $32 |
| 2 | Canada College | CA | $32 |
| 3 | New Mexico State University-Grants | NM | $68 |
| 4 | College of San Mateo | CA | $536 |
| 5 | College of San Mateo | CA | $536 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Printing Press Operator programs.
Graduation Rates
Graduation rate data is not available for this degree program.
Graduation/completion rates for Printing Press Operator 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 Printing Press Operator is in WV (11 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 WV (0.03% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| WV | 11 | 100.0% | 0.03% |
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 10.03 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- Animation, Interactive Technology, Video Graphics, and Special Effects CIP 10.0304
- Computer Typography and Composition Equipment Operator CIP 10.0308
- Graphic Communications, General CIP 10.0301
- Graphic and Printing Equipment Operator, General Production CIP 10.0305
- Platemaker/Imager CIP 10.0306
- Prepress/Desktop Publishing and Digital Imaging Design CIP 10.0303
- Printing Management CIP 10.0302
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 10.0307 in the survey year used in our extract (11 total across levels below).
- 11 Bachelor's (100.0% 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 $50,750. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Printing Press Operator graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Printing Press Operators | $50,498 | 145,110 |
| Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic | $50,960 | 174,430 |
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 Graphic Communications CIP family (22 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Printing Press Operator graduate.
- $45,257 median federal loan debt among completers
- $43,283 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 1.78 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 9.2% 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
$50,750 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Printing Press Operator majors is $50,750.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Printing Press Operator majors.
Occupations by Share
319,540 2023 Workforce
The number of Printing Press Operator graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Printing Press Operator by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Printing Press Operator in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Printing Press Operator.
Age distribution for Printing Press Operator degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
11 Total Degrees Awarded
6 Male (54.55%)
5 Female (45.45%)
Gender distribution of Printing Press Operator degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
8 White (72.73%)
2 Black or African American (18.18%)
1 Hispanic or Latino (9.09%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Printing Press Operator degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Printing Press Operator are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Printing Press Operator.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Printing Press Operator field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Printing Press Operator majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Printing Press Operator 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 Printing Press Operator majors.
About
A program that prepares individuals to apply technical knowledge and skills to set up, operate, and maintain printing presses
In 2023, 100,000 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Printing Press Operator.
CIP Code
10.0307 - Printing Press Operator
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $45,257 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $43,283, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 1.78. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Printing Press Operator graduate.
About 9.2% 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.
Men earned 41.7% of 12 Printing Press Operator completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $50,750. The largest mapped role by headcount is Printing Press Operators (145,110 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $4,334 in-state at public colleges and $38,447 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.