The Surprising Power of an Arts Degree in the New Economy

Illustration: Suzie Castello

Is an Arts Degree the Right Choice?

Are you someone who lights up when solving visual problems, telling stories, or building things from scratch? Do you thrive in hands-on, project-based environments? Are you curious about how design and media shape culture and communication? If so, exploring the arts in college could be a deeply fulfilling and practical path. You might already have a strong portfolio and clear goals. Or maybe you’ve discovered your passion through electives, summer programs, or extracurricular experiences. There’s no one right path. The key is choosing a learning environment where you’ll be most engaged, challenged, and inspired to grow.

Maybe you're wondering if studying art or design in college worth it? With tuition costs rising and so many career options to choose from, it's fair to question whether a creative degree will pay off. But considering important skills for the future such as creativity, adaptability, and problem-solving, it is clear they can be developed in an arts degree program. The experiences of studying and making art can lead to exciting careers in tech, media, design, entertainment, education, and beyond. Understanding art and art history can make you better at interacting with machine-making because you'll have had the experience of learning about human making.

The New Economy: What Employers Are Looking For

We are living through a transformation in the global economy. Automation, AI, climate change, and demographic shifts are reshaping what skills employers need. How do we know what skills will be in demand in the future economy? The World Economic Forum has been conducting research trying to understand what work will look like in 2030. For rising high school seniors, this is the year of your college graduating class. The core skills identified by the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 include:

In addition, Aneesh Raman, Vice President and Head of the Opportunity Project at LinkedIn, recently spoke about a shift to skills-based hiring. "We are living through the biggest change to how we work since the Industrial Revolution. The future of work will belong to people with skills that are adaptable, creative, and human."

Raman explains "AI is an accelerant for why people have to think in a skills-first way. It is a tool that helps us build the systems around skills-first. He suggests all of us to look at our job titles as a list of tasks that can be divided into three buckets. In the first bucket are the tasks that AI can do fully. In the second bucket are the tasks we do with AI. And the third bucket are the tasks that require our fully human skills.

Where Arts Degrees Fit In

When you look closely, you'll see that many of the skills identified by the WEF and Aneesh Raman are exactly the kinds of skills developed in strong arts programs. Programs in animation, design, photography, film, illustration, and visual studies train students to think critically, iterate solutions, manage feedback, and collaborate across disciplines, in order to make things, tell stories, and solve problems in original ways.

Arts programs connect the digital and real world. They combine artistic development with technical literacy, interdisciplinary collaboration, and professional readiness. A student studying 3D animation, for example, may also be learning coding, rigging, physics simulation, and motion-capture—all tools used in gaming, advertising, the film industry, as well as a skill set transferable to innumerate situations involving effective visual communications.

Evidence: Skills Developed in Arts Degrees

WEF Skill	Developed in Arts Programs
Creativity and originality	Core to all visual and media arts disciplines
Resilience and flexibility	Built through iterative critique and portfolio development
Leadership and social influence	Project-based work, exhibitions, group critiques
Emotional intelligence	Storytelling, audience design, and user empathy
Tech literacy	Animation, digital photography, editing, 3D rendering
Active learning and curiosity	Studio-based, feedback-driven models of continuous growth

These "soft skills" are in-demand, practical capabilities that are difficult to automate and vital to the innovation economy.

Career Pathways and Outcomes

Arts careers may not always follow traditional routes, but they are far from limited. Many graduates of arts programs go on to work in:

• Creative industries (film, media, advertising, gaming, publishing)

• Technology (UX/UI design, content strategy, product design)

• Startups and entrepreneurship

• Education, nonprofits, and cultural organizations

• Consulting, innovation labs, and design thinking roles

According to Coursera, creative fields salaries vary widely depending on the specific role, experience level, and location. Generally, roles requiring specialized skills and experience, like UX designers, architects, and creative directors, tend to command higher salaries. Demand for creative professionals is also a significant factor, with roles in high-demand fields like digital marketing and web development often offering competitive compensation.

In the UK, the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC) has reported that creative graduates are just as likely as STEM graduates to be in full-time work three years after graduation, and often with higher levels of job satisfaction.

In the EU, a study by the European Commission on the cultural and creative sectors showed that these industries account for a growing share of employment and GDP, particularly in digital media and design-related sectors.

Degrees of Engagement: BFA, BA, or Minor?

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to studying the arts at the undergraduate level. You might benefit most from a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), a professional degree with intensive studio practice and deep specialization. In comparison, you may prefer a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in a creative field, which allows more flexibility to combine artistic work with other areas of study, such as psychology, communications, or business. Another option is to add a minor, or take elective courses in an arts discipline to complement a different major.

This range of options gives you the freedom to align your academic pathway with your goals, whether those include graduate school, entrepreneurship, tech-sector employment, or creative leadership in global organizations. Even a single course in design or media production can significantly expand your skill set and creative confidence.

What to Look For in an Arts Program

Not all programs are created equal. When researching arts degrees, look for:

• Strong industry connections and internship support

• Cross-disciplinary or tech-integrated curricula

• Access to robust facilities (studios, labs, editing suites)

• Emphasis on portfolio development and critique

• Career services tailored to creative pathways

• Transparent data on alumni outcomes

How to Know if an Arts Degree is Right for You

Start by asking yourself what kind of work energizes you. Do you find joy in experimenting and creating? Are you motivated by visual storytelling, problem-solving, or crafting experiences for others? Can you see yourself working in environments that value originality and collaboration? If the answer is yes, an arts degree might be more than a good fit, it might be your superpower.

Talk with teachers, explore summer programs or creative electives, make things in your free time, and don’t be afraid to reach out to students or alumni in the field. The more you learn, the better you’ll be able to picture your future, and the more confident you’ll feel about investing in your education.

Arts programs, when thoughtfully chosen, can offer you an open future. In a world where adaptability, storytelling, and human-centered design are more valuable than ever, the arts are not a luxury, they're a strategy.

If you’re curious about undergraduate arts programs and want to talk more, I’m happy to share what I’ve learned through campus visits, student conversations, and interviews with admissions teams. Please reach out!