Arts & design

Visual and Performing Arts, General

New Mexico State University-Main Campus · Las Cruces, NM

Medium evidenceMatched peers12 institutions · related subjectsSee the evidence

The degree in numbers

Cost & earnings.

Annual tuition$25,271Institution-level tuition; programme fees may differ · before aid
Annual credentials awarded1Average of available recent award years; not the earnings sample size.

Earnings context

One career stage.
A clearer comparison.

USD · Master's · 2 years after completion
Same source release. National references exclude this degree.

Selected degree estimate$39,704
Same subject · national$35,785
Arts & design · national$36,678

Behind the number

Your comparison group.

Medium evidence

Related subjects at 12 matched peer institutions · master's

Grouped estimate. Middle half of comparison values: $31,816–$44,943.

Historical earnings archive. College Scorecard legacy FOS archive (file dated 2022-01-19; cohorts vary). Do not interpret this as today's graduate salary. Further study and career changes are not modelled by this early-career figure.

Master's outcomes · 2 years after completion
Institution & subjectReported earnings
University of Houston-Clear LakeEducational/Instructional Media Design$50,270
University of Missouri-Kansas CityDrama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft, Music$33,637
Northern Illinois UniversityDrama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft, Educational/Instructional Media Design, Fine and Studio Arts, Music$36,681
University of Akron Main CampusEducational/Instructional Media Design, Music$34,142
University of Massachusetts-BostonEducational/Instructional Media Design$78,343
Mississippi State UniversityGeological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences$42,728
Western Illinois UniversityEducational/Instructional Media Design, Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities$44,390
Eastern Michigan UniversityEducational/Instructional Media Design$46,478
Ball State UniversityMusic$20,140
University of LouisvilleMusic$21,508
Wayne State UniversityDrama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft, Educational/Instructional Media Design$44,431
Bowling Green State University-Main CampusMusic$26,353
How matching & uncertainty work

We first look for the same subject code (or exact subject name), qualification, country, currency, source release and earnings horizon. Peer institutions are matched using admissions selectivity, completion rates, undergraduate size and institution type, with a small preference for the same region. These are institutional proxies, not a ranking of programme quality.

If subject-matched peers are sparse, we try related subjects at closely matched universities, related degrees at this university, then an explicitly labelled national reference. We never multiply a salary by a university prestige score.

Peer and national estimates give each reporting institution one vote, after taking the median of its related programmes. Shared branch-campus outcomes count once. The middle-half range describes variation between reporting institutions. It is not an individual salary range or a statistical confidence interval.

Evidence labels describe match quality and coverage, not validated prediction accuracy. Admissions and size are undergraduate institutional measures, so graduate-degree comparisons are especially approximate.

Historical cohort outcomes are not promised salaries or a causal effect of attending this programme. College Scorecard earnings cover eligible federal-aid recipients, not every graduate or international student. Source definitions ↗