Art Education major

Art Education: courses, careers, and where to study

Art Education prepares future teachers to lead K-12 visual-art classrooms, pairing studio skill in drawing, painting, and design with the pedagogy and licensure to teach it.

Art Education, classified federally as Art Teacher Education, prepares people to teach the visual arts in schools. Where a Studio Art major centers on developing a student's own artistic practice and portfolio, this field points artistic skill toward the classroom: planning art lessons, teaching technique and art history to beginners, sequencing projects across grade levels, and assessing creative work fairly. It also differs from Music Education, which prepares teachers for ensembles and general music rather than for drawing, painting, ceramics, design, and the broader visual arts. Candidates keep building their own ability across media, but always in service of helping students learn to make and understand art.

Most art-teaching positions are entered with a bachelor's degree that combines studio coursework with an education sequence: art methods, child and adolescent development, classroom management, and a culminating student-teaching placement in real schools under a mentor teacher. Graduates most often teach art in public, charter, and private elementary and secondary schools, and some later move into museum education, district arts leadership, or graduate study. Because public-school teaching is regulated, candidates should confirm the exact certification grade bands and exams required where they intend to work before committing to a program.

In federal data for the closely related occupation of secondary school teachers, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a 2024 median wage of $64,580 and projects employment to decline about 1.6% from 2024 to 2034; a bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education for that occupation. National figures are occupation-wide medians across all experience levels, not starting wages or graduate outcomes.