Program at a Glance

  • Online and On Campus
  • Full-Time or Part-Time Study
  • 16 Credits
  • 8–12 Months to Completion
  • 10 Core Faculty
  • No GRE/GMAT
  • Tuition & Fees: $15,720

*Based on 2024–2025 Boston University tuition and fees.

Develop Effective Arts Marketing Techniques

Are you an early career professional looking to position yourself as an effective practitioner of arts marketing with a competitive advantage in an era of changing media and marketing techniques? 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). The unique Arts Marketing graduate certificate program will equip you with a sophisticated skillset of the latest arts marketing, promotion, and advertising approaches required to enter 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.

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Why Earn a Graduate Certificate in Arts Marketing at BU?

  • Active Learning Environment: BU’s Arts Administration courses ensure you get the attention you need through close interaction with faculty and visiting artists. Benefit from an interdisciplinary curriculum that 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.
  • Engaged Faculty: In BU’s Arts Marketing graduate certificate program, you 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.
  • Extensive Network: Study alongside peers within the art world; consult and network with a wide range of national and international companies and nonprofit organizations within the art world; and benefit from a global alumni community with strong professional connections. Plus, you have 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.
  • Student Support: Enjoy an exceptional student-to-instructor ratio, ensuring close interaction with faculty mentors and access to support.
  • Valuable Resources: Make use of Boston University’s extensive resources, including the BU Art GalleriesArts InitiativeCenter for Career DevelopmentEducational Resource CenterFitness & Recreation CenterIT Help CentersJoan & Edgar Booth TheatreMugar Memorial LibraryCenter for Antiracist ResearchHoward Thurman Center for Common GroundGeorge Sherman Union, Tsai Performance CenterWheelock Family Theatre, and many others.
  • Flexible Options: Study at the pace that works for you, evenings on campus or fully online. Courses begin fall, spring, and summer; online courses have two starts per term.
  • Track Record: 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.

Succeed in Successfully Marketing Arts Organizations

Through the MS in Arts Administration and graduate certificates in Arts Management, Arts Marketing, Commercial Theater Development, and Fundraising Management, the Arts Administration program at BU MET emphasizes creativity, economic problem solving, entrepreneurial leadership, internationalism, innovation in the arts, and a commitment to technological proficiency. We are particularly concerned with helping arts organizations successfully achieve their missions. It is toward such an end that we sustain a deep conviction in the centrality of the role of the artist, and in the fundamental importance of artistic excellence, as issues central to all arts organizations in the twenty-first century.

We offer a flexible schedule to accommodate students who are working or have other responsibilities that prevent traditional full-time study. All coursework can be completed on a part-time, evening basis or via full-time study.

Graduate with Expertise

Boston University’s Arts Marketing graduate certificate will equip you with:

  • 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.

Certificate-to-Degree Pathway

BU MET graduate certificate programs can serve as building blocks to a master’s degree. The Graduate Certificate in Arts Marketing shares specific courses with the Master of Science in Arts Administration. Students currently enrolled in a graduate certificate who are interested in transitioning into a master’s degree should contact their academic advisor to declare their interest in this pathway. A new master’s degree application is not required. Connect with a graduate admissions advisor at artsad@bu.edu to learn more about this option.


The Graduate Certificate in Arts Marketing consists of four courses for a total of 16 credits.

Courses

(Four courses/16 credits)

Plus two selected from the following:



Arts Administration Faculty

  • Douglas DeNatale
    Douglas DeNatale

    Associate Professor of the Practice

    Director, Arts Administration

  • Ilana Barker
    Ilana Barker

    Lecturer

    Director, CRM & Analytics, Flint Institute of Music

  • Nick Peterson
    Nick Peterson

    Lecturer

    Director of Marketing, Central Square Theater



Tuition & Financial Assistance

Competitive Tuition

Our part-time rates are substantially lower than those of the traditional, full-time residential programs yet provide access to the same high-quality BU education.

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Comprehensive Financial Assistance

Our services include scholarships, graduate loans, and payment plans.

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Tuition, fees, and total program cost are determined by enrollment status. Course enrollment in this certificate program is 1–2 courses (4–8 credits) in a semester, and tuition is charged the part-time per-credit rate.

Arts Marketing Graduate Certificate (Online and On Campus)

Enrollment Status Part Time
Courses per Semester 2 courses
(8 credits)
Time to Degree 2 semesters
(8 months)
Tuition* $550-$975
per credit**
Fees per Semester* $60
Total Degree Cost* $15,720

*Based on 2024-2025 Boston University tuition & fee rates.
**Cost per credit is determined by course number (100–599 = $550/credit, 600–999 = $975/credit).

Questions? Please contact us to hear from an Admissions Advisor who can help you determine the best enrollment pathway. For information regarding financial aid, visit BU MET’s Financial Aid page.

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Please visit the BU MET admissions page for details on how to apply, financial assistance, tuition and fees, requirements for international students, and more.

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