*Based on 2025–2026 Boston University tuition and fees.
Support Arts Organizations through Marketing
For early career professionals, the Graduate Certificate in Arts Marketing is a hands-on professional program offered by the Arts Administration program in collaboration with the Department of Administrative Sciences at Boston University’s Metropolitan College (MET).
If you are looking to position yourself as an effective practitioner of arts marketing, the unique Arts Marketing graduate certificate program will equip you with a competitive advantage in an era of changing media and marketing techniques. The curriculum will help you build a sophisticated skillset in the latest approaches to arts marketing, promotion, and advertising, preparing you for a career as an arts marketing manager within an arts organization. This preparation includes advanced training in marketing techniques, data analytics, social media marketing, strategic decision-making, and marketing segmentation.
Students in the program take two Arts Administration courses and select up to two electives drawn from BU MET’s graduate programs in Advertising and Global Marketing.
Select courses from the Arts Marketing certificate can be applied to the graduate degree program in Arts Administration. Certificate students have access to all the resources of the department and Boston University, including the extensive network of visual and performing arts organizations that have employed our graduates, as well as internship and job placement services.
The Graduate Certificate in Arts Marketing is also available on campus in Boston.
Boston University’s Graduate Certificate in Arts Marketing consists of four required online courses (16 credits). A student may take up to two courses before admission to the Arts Marketing certificate, but must apply and be accepted to the program prior to the completion of the second course.
Degree Core Courses
(Four courses/16 credits)
Plus two selected from the following courses available online:
Note that additional courses are available in an on-campus format. For details, visit the Arts Marketing page on the Metropolitan College website.
Upon completion of the certificate, students working in the visual or performing arts fields may apply for admission to the Master of Science in Arts Administration program. If accepted, all successfully completed credits earned toward the certificate may be applied toward degree requirements.
Learn about application requirements for BU MET graduate degree and certificate programs.
How You Benefit from a Boston University Education
A BU credential can help lay the foundation for career advancement and personal success.
Benefit from a 15:1 student-to-instructor ratio.
Study with an international faculty of professionals working within the worlds of visual and performing arts, advertising, and global marketing. Arts Administration faculty also happen to be accomplished musicians, photographers, painters, collectors, and performers. Their expertise in the most current challenges, trends, and best practices in the field enables them to offer rich perspectives and insights that ensure a uniquely hands-on approach to study.
Interdisciplinary curriculum encourages collaboration between students from multidisciplinary arts backgrounds and provides access to mentor programs, internships, project management activities, and opportunities to work with world-leading art institutions and practitioners in the field.
Enjoy access to the Boston University Arts Administration Student Association (AASA), formed in the spring of 1995 to provide opportunities for social interaction, educational enrichment, and career development.
Founded in 1993, Boston University’s Metropolitan College Arts Administration program has produced professional leaders at a host of cultural institutions in Boston, throughout the United States, and abroad.
US citizens and permanent residents are automatically considered for Merit Scholarships during the application process and nominated based on eligibility.
Students who complete the Graduate Certificate in Arts Marketing will be able to demonstrate:
The ability to use a sophisticated toolset to analyze transactional arts organization data, discern trends, and develop strategies for reaching target goals in audience development.
Knowledge of current effective marketing techniques employed in fields related to arts management and to apply these to arts marketing.
The ability to market yourself effectively based on your acquired skills and knowledge gained through the certificate program.
Advance Your Career
BU MET’s Arts Marketing graduate certificate prepares you for a wealth of different roles, such as digital arts marketing specialist, arts marketing consultant, audience engagement specialist, marketing and patron services associate, fundraising and marketing specialist, and many others.
Take Advantage of Career Resources at BU MET
You will find the support you need in reaching your career goals through MET’s Career Development office, which offers a variety of job-hunting resources, including one-on-one career counseling by appointment for online students. You can also take advantage of tools and resources available online through BU’s Center for Career Development.
Recent graduates have established their careers at:
Boston Center for the Arts
Harvard Art Museums
New England Conservatory of Music
National Center for the Performing Arts (China)
Boston Ballet School
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Galerie d’Orsay
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
MassOpera
Metro Theater Company
National Museum of China
Shanghai Ballet Company
The Art Institute of Chicago
“I am currently the Associate Director for Marketing, Media, and Communication for BU’s Kilachand Honors College. So, I certainly use skills that I have learned through my marketing and data analytics classes in this role. Also, my husband has a small business, and I am able to help him think through the logistical needs of the company (outside of the actual product) and brainstorm ways to obtain clients.”
Megan West Kagstrom (MET’22) Assistant Director of Marketing, Media & Communication, Boston University Kilachand Honors College MS, Arts Administration
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