Which Colorado fine and studio arts program has the lowest debt?

Fort Lewis College reports the lowest median federal debt, $16,500, with first-year pay of $22,754.

How much do fine and studio arts graduates earn in Colorado?

The median across 8 Colorado fine and studio arts bachelor's programs is $28,050 in the first year after graduating and $40,219 five years after.

How many fine and studio arts bachelor's programs are in Colorado?

8 Colorado programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 6 of them also report federal debt.

Fine and Studio Arts (Bachelor's) Programs in Colorado, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

8 programs report first-year pay
6 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Fine and Studio Arts

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Colorado fine and studio arts bachelor's program pays its graduates $28,050 in their first year, $3,503 more than the national median. CU Denver reports the highest first-year pay ($31,144), and Fort Lewis College the lowest median debt ($16,500).

Median first-year pay$28,050National $24,548

Median pay after 5 years$40,219National $40,835

Median federal debt$23,250National $25,402

Debt-to-earnings82%National 97%

All 8 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	CU DenverDenver · public	$31,144	$48,906	$25,490	82%
2	University of Northern ColoradoGreeley · public	$30,663	$45,240	$25,000	82%
3	Colorado StateFort Collins · public	$30,143	$44,547	$21,500	71%
4	University of DenverDenver · private nonprofit	$28,964	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
5	Colorado Mesa UniversityGrand Junction · public	$27,136	$31,631	Not reported	Not reported
6	Metropolitan State University of DenverDenver · public	$26,102	$43,850	$31,000	119%
7	Fort Lewis CollegeDurango · public	$22,754	$38,124	$16,500	73%
8	CU BoulderBoulder · public	$17,501	$40,219	$21,500	123%

University of Denver and Colorado Mesa University report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Colorado fine and studio arts program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Colorado medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 6 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

CU Denver$31,144
University of Northern Colorado$30,663
Colorado State$30,143
University of Denver$28,964
Colorado Mesa University$27,136

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

Colorado State71%
Fort Lewis College73%
University of Northern Colorado82%
CU Denver82%
Metropolitan State University of Denver119%

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

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

$72,900

Median pay in Colorado. 18,310 people work in this job in Colorado. 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.

Bottom 10%: $48,970Top 10%: $101,300

Property Appraisers and Assessors

$75,150

Median pay in Colorado. 1,060 people work in this job in Colorado. 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.

Bottom 10%: $49,730Top 10%: $130,890

Art Directors

$99,990

Median pay in Colorado. 720 people work in this job in Colorado. 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.

Bottom 10%: $73,110Top 10%: $162,610

Photographers

$47,070

Median pay in Colorado. 1,140 people work in this job in Colorado. 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.

Bottom 10%: $36,440Top 10%: $92,200

Common questions

CU Denver in Denver reports the highest median first-year pay, $31,144. Its median federal debt is $25,490.

Fine and Studio Arts (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked384 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
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 Colorado rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the fine and studio arts bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024