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

Illinois State reports the lowest median federal debt, $20,125, with first-year pay of $35,967.

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

The median across 15 Illinois fine and studio arts bachelor's programs is $26,213 in the first year after graduating and $41,126 five years after.

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

15 Illinois programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 14 of them also report federal debt.

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

15 programs report first-year pay
14 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 Illinois fine and studio arts bachelor's program pays its graduates $26,213 in their first year, $1,666 more than the national median. Illinois State reports the highest first-year pay ($35,967), and Illinois State the lowest median debt ($20,125).

Median first-year pay$26,213National $24,548

Median pay after 5 years$41,126National $40,835

Median federal debt$26,000National $25,402

Debt-to-earnings100%National 97%

All 15 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	Illinois StateNormal · public	$35,967	$45,397	$20,125	56%
2	Southern Illinois University-CarbondaleCarbondale · public	$33,285	$36,135	$26,500	80%
3	North Park UniversityChicago · private nonprofit	$33,276	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
4	Northeastern Illinois UniversityChicago · public	$30,845	$53,398	$20,319	66%
5	UIUCChampaign · public	$28,669	$33,080	$21,356	74%
6	DePaul UniversityChicago · private nonprofit	$27,291	$41,040	$26,999	99%
7	Northern Illinois UniversityDekalb · public	$26,795	$41,109	$25,781	96%
8	Eastern Illinois UniversityCharleston · public	$26,213	$34,631	$25,000	95%
9	Western Illinois UniversityMacomb · public	$26,196	$43,046	$27,000	103%
10	Southern Illinois University EdwardsvilleEdwardsville · public	$25,259	$38,018	$27,280	108%
11	School of the Art Institute of ChicagoChicago · private nonprofit	$23,984	$36,916	$27,000	113%
12	Wheaton CollegeWheaton · private nonprofit	$23,202	Not reported	$23,281	100%
13	Columbia College ChicagoChicago · private nonprofit	$22,765	$41,142	$26,000	114%
14	UICChicago · public	$21,954	$41,311	$26,000	118%
15	Olivet Nazarene UniversityBourbonnais · private nonprofit	$16,290	$43,785	$27,000	166%

North Park University reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 14 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Illinois State$35,967
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale$33,285
North Park University$33,276
Northeastern Illinois University$30,845
UIUC$28,669

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

"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

$79,990

Median pay in Illinois. 44,670 people work in this job in Illinois. 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%: $49,020Top 10%: $135,960

Property Appraisers and Assessors

$60,150

Median pay in Illinois. 1,700 people work in this job in Illinois. 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%: $36,320Top 10%: $119,430

Art Directors

$103,550

Median pay in Illinois. 2,960 people work in this job in Illinois. 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%: $69,200Top 10%: $172,050

Photographers

$36,570

Median pay in Illinois. 2,150 people work in this job in Illinois. 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%: $31,200Top 10%: $96,770

Common questions

Illinois State in Normal reports the highest median first-year pay, $35,967. Its median federal debt is $20,125.

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 Illinois 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