Masters in Art Education

An art education Master’s degree program is meant for students wishing to primarily teach art in public and private schools. A Master’s in art education is a basic qualification to teach art in several states such as New York State.

The basic skill taught during the course is learning the art of teaching art. Curators, writers, and community directors are some other job alternatives available with a Master’s in art education. Your placement and salary prospects improve if your college is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD).

Given that this is a line of work that depends as much if not more on an individual’s innate talent as it does on qualification; your salary and career growth are to a large extent what you make of them. There are various employment opportunities across industries and businesses, for example – you can work for a company, hospital, college, federal or state government, on contract, non-profit organizations, and foundations. Contracted personnel can command an hourly rate of as much as $41.25 per hour with a median salary of around $53.5K. Location is a factor too; San Francisco leads the way in terms of average salaries, the city offers $68K on an average as compared to New York where the average salary is $56.8K. Generally, rural and inner city areas pay better than the suburbs.

It’s interesting to note that women are in an overwhelming majority when it comes to a Master’s degree in art education.

A salary chart showing median salary by job type shows that an assistant principal stands to make around $69K in a year. A look at average salaries for related jobs shows that the pay increases with experience.

Salary, of course, is less of a concern for those that can get a wealthy patron to commission a series of family portraits or those lucky enough to hold successful solo exhibitions.