Program Payoff

Visual and Performing Arts, General programs in New York

29 schools in New York teach this, at certificate or associate level. 4 of them report what graduates earn two years out; the highest is $20,140 at CUNY Bronx Community College.

What this work pays in New York

Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary in New York earn a median of $98,850 a year across 14,920 jobs. That is what the occupation pays everyone in it — not what graduates of any one program below earned.

Also leads toMedianJobs in New York
Graphic Designers$77,34014,530
Art Directors$137,3208,720
Photographers$60,0503,650
Special Effects Artists and Animators$96,7701,540
Fine Artists, Including Painters, Sculptors, and Illustrators$78,8701,400

Occupation wages: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025.

Schools

SchoolCredentialMedian debtGraduate earnings, 2 yrsGraduates
CUNY Bronx Community College Bronx Associate's degree $20,140 (23 grads) 25
Suffolk County Community College Selden Associate's degree $18,087 (28 grads) 57
CUNY Queensborough Community College Bayside Associate's degree $17,950 (36 grads) 56
CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College New York Associate's degree $16,786 (22 grads) 40
Dutchess Community College Poughkeepsie Associate's degree $6,500 not published 33
CUNY Hostos Community College Bronx Associate's degree not published
CUNY Kingsborough Community College Brooklyn Associate's degree not published 8
CUNY LaGuardia Community College Long Island City Undergraduate certificate not published 0
Empire State University Saratoga Springs Associate's degree not published
Fashion Institute of Technology New York Undergraduate certificate not published 1
Five Towns College Dix Hills Associate's degree not published
Genesee Community College Batavia Associate's degree not published 13
Herkimer County Community College Herkimer Associate's degree not published
Hudson Valley Community College Troy Associate's degree not published 0
Jamestown Community College Jamestown Undergraduate certificate not published
Mohawk Valley Community College Utica Associate's degree not published 2
Niagara County Community College Sanborn Undergraduate certificate not published 0
Niagara County Community College Sanborn Associate's degree not published 0
Pratt Institute-Main Brooklyn Associate's degree not published 0
Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester Undergraduate certificate not published 1
Rockland Community College Suffern Associate's degree not published 14
SUNY Broome Community College Binghamton Undergraduate certificate not published
SUNY Corning Community College Corning Associate's degree not published 0
SUNY Old Westbury Old Westbury Undergraduate certificate not published
SUNY Westchester Community College Valhalla Undergraduate certificate not published 1
SUNY Westchester Community College Valhalla Associate's degree not published 34
Siena University Loudonville Undergraduate certificate not published 0
Ulster County Community College Stone Ridge Associate's degree not published 6
Villa Maria College Buffalo Associate's degree not published

A dash under earnings or debt means the U.S. Department of Education has not published a figure for that program — it withholds any median computed from too few graduates, which covers about four of every five programs. It never means zero, and it says nothing about whether the program is any good. Where a figure is shown, the number of graduates behind it is shown with it.

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The U.S. Department of Education publishes new cost, debt and earnings figures once a year, and every number on this page changes at once. One email when that happens for Visual and Performing Arts, General — nothing else, and nothing in between.

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Program and outcome figures: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, released 2026-06-10.