SUNY Purchase College Visual and Performing Arts (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Visual and Performing Arts, General
- Public college
- Purchase, NY
- About 23 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
SUNY Purchase College visual and performing arts graduates earn about what visual and performing arts graduates earn nationally, $22,024 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $27,000 in federal loans, close to the national median of $26,333. Two other New York programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The New York and national columns are the medians across all visual and performing arts bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every New York visual and performing arts program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the New York medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $286 a month, or 15.6% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
23 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $45,821.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
84% of graduates (27 of 32) were working in New York one year after graduating. Prices in the New York area are about 13% above the national average, so a $22,024 salary here buys what about $19,566 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 visual and performing arts, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Graphic Designers
$77,340Median pay in New York. 14,530 people work in this job in New York. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 16,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Art Directors
$137,320Median pay in New York. 8,720 people work in this job in New York. 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
$60,050Median pay in New York. 3,650 people work in this job in New York. 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.
Special Effects Artists and Animators
$96,770Median pay in New York. 1,540 people work in this job in New York. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About SUNY Purchase College
Visual and Performing Arts ranks 9th of 19 bachelor's programs at SUNY Purchase College by first-year earnings. The top three are Sociology ($35,124), Economics ($34,297), and Biology ($33,914).
Other visual and performing arts bachelor's programs near Purchase
Common questions
The median graduate earns $22,024 one year after graduating. The median across visual and performing arts bachelor's programs in New York is $21,094.
The median federal loan balance is $27,000, which ranks 4th lowest of 5 visual and performing arts bachelor's programs in New York. That works out to about $286 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 123% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 101%. Compare the cost with other New York programs before deciding.
Most do. 84% (27 of 32) were working in New York 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 New York 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 visual and performing 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