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

Kenyon College reports the lowest median federal debt, $15,500, with first-year pay of $23,082.

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

The median across 17 Ohio fine and studio arts bachelor's programs is $23,082 in the first year after graduating and $36,373 five years after.

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

17 Ohio programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 16 of them also report federal debt.

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

17 programs report first-year pay
16 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 Ohio fine and studio arts bachelor's program pays its graduates $23,082 in their first year, $1,466 less than the national median. Bowling Green State reports the highest first-year pay ($31,128), and Kenyon College the lowest median debt ($15,500).

Median first-year pay$23,082National $24,548

Median pay after 5 years$36,373National $40,835

Median federal debt$27,000National $25,402

Debt-to-earnings111%National 97%

All 17 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	Bowling Green StateBowling Green · public	$31,128	$39,113	$27,000	87%
2	University of CincinnatiCincinnati · public	$29,431	$40,407	$28,943	98%
3	Youngstown StateYoungstown · public	$29,203	$38,528	$31,000	106%
4	Ohio StateColumbus · public	$29,186	$41,781	$26,849	92%
5	Ohio UniversityAthens · public	$29,053	$36,864	$26,000	89%
6	Columbus College of Art & DesignColumbus · private nonprofit	$25,751	$39,225	$27,000	105%
7	Miami UniversityOxford · public	$24,912	$41,509	$27,000	108%
8	Cleveland StateCleveland · public	$23,352	$25,265	$27,978	120%
9	Kenyon CollegeGambier · private nonprofit	$23,082	Not reported	$15,500	67%
10	University of AkronAkron · public	$22,837	$32,675	$25,919	113%
11	Wright StateDayton · public	$22,631	$35,293	$29,259	129%
12	Ohio Wesleyan UniversityDelaware · private nonprofit	$22,239	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
13	University of ToledoToledo · public	$21,392	$36,842	$26,750	125%
14	Shawnee StatePortsmouth · public	$19,261	$33,641	$28,750	149%
15	Kent StateKent · public	$19,138	$33,881	$28,501	149%
16	Cleveland Institute of ArtCleveland · private nonprofit	$18,839	Not reported	$27,000	143%
17	Art Academy of CincinnatiCincinnati · private nonprofit	$13,252	$32,171	$27,000	204%

Ohio Wesleyan University reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 16 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

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

$78,800

Median pay in Ohio. 49,540 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $48,370Top 10%: $103,150

Property Appraisers and Assessors

$63,410

Median pay in Ohio. 1,220 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $40,740Top 10%: $104,160

Art Directors

$94,390

Median pay in Ohio. 1,050 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $57,740Top 10%: $148,080

Photographers

$38,470

Median pay in Ohio. 1,540 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $23,670Top 10%: $80,990

Common questions

Bowling Green State in Bowling Green reports the highest median first-year pay, $31,128. Its median federal debt is $27,000.

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 Ohio 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