Southeast Missouri State Fine and Studio Arts (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Fine and Studio Arts
- Public university
- Cape Girardeau, MO
- About 21 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Southeast Missouri State fine and studio arts graduates earn about what fine and studio arts graduates earn nationally, $28,421 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $19,000 in federal loans, less than at 83% of fine and studio arts programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying fine and studio arts degrees in Missouri.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Missouri and national columns are the medians across all fine and studio arts bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Southeast Missouri State graduates earn less than the national figure and about the same as the Missouri median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Missouri fine and studio arts program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Missouri medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 27% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $201 a month, or 8.5% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
81% of graduates (25 of 31) were working in Missouri one year after graduating. Prices in the Cape Girardeau area are about 14% below the national average, so a $28,421 salary here buys what about $33,018 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to fine and studio arts, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
$59,240Median pay in Missouri. 24,380 people work in this job in Missouri. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 63,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Property Appraisers and Assessors
$57,380Median pay in Missouri. 1,560 people work in this job in Missouri. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 5,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Art Directors
$100,940Median pay in Missouri. 780 people work in this job in Missouri. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
Photographers
$39,170Median pay in Missouri. 950 people work in this job in Missouri. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
About Southeast Missouri State
Fine and Studio Arts ranks 27th of 29 bachelor's programs at Southeast Missouri State by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($68,302), Information Technology ($62,891), and Computer and Information Science ($58,964).
Other fine and studio arts bachelor's programs near Cape Girardeau
Common questions
The median graduate earns $28,421 one year after graduating and $36,199 five years after. The median across fine and studio arts bachelor's programs in Missouri is $25,476.
The median federal loan balance is $19,000, which ranks the lowest of 8 fine and studio arts bachelor's programs in Missouri. That works out to about $201 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 67% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 97%.
Most do. 81% (25 of 31) were working in Missouri one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Missouri comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the fine and studio arts program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024