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Museum registrar education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a museum registrar. Museum registrars usually study fine arts, history, or anthropology. 67% of museum registrars hold a bachelor's degree, and 17% hold an master's degree. We analyzed 34 real museum registrar resumes to see exactly what museum registrar education sections show.

The most common colleges for museum registrars are the Florida State University and the Florida State University.

There are also many online museum registrar courses to help get the education required to be a museum registrar.

What education do you need to become a museum registrar?

What degree do you need to be a museum registrar?

The most common degree for museum registrars is bachelor's degree, with 67% of museum registrars earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are master's degree degree at 17% and master's degree degree at 13%.
  • Bachelor's, 67%
  • Master's, 17%
  • Associate, 13%
  • Diploma, 3%

What should I major in to become a museum registrar?

You should major in fine arts to become a museum registrar. 36% of museum registrars major in fine arts. Other common majors for a museum registrar include history and anthropology.

Most common colleges for museum registrars

Museum registrars often get their degrees at Florida State University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Bard College. Here are the most common colleges for museum registrars in the US based on their resumes.
Museum registrar common collegePercentages
Florida State University9.09%
Virginia Commonwealth University9.09%
Bard College4.55%
University of Connecticut4.55%
Indiana University Bloomington4.55%

Best majors for museum registrars

Best colleges for museum registrars

The best colleges for museum registrars are Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, and Brown University.

A museum registrar with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for museum registrars. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become museum registrars.

1. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-state tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

2. Georgetown University

Washington, DC • Private

In-state tuition

$54,104

Enrollment

7,089

3. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-state tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

4. Brown University

Providence, RI • Private

In-state tuition

$55,466

Enrollment

6,752

5. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

In-state tuition

$53,740

Enrollment

5,567

6. Tufts University

Medford, MA • Private

In-state tuition

$56,382

Enrollment

5,597

7. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,381

Enrollment

34,564

8. University of Maryland - College Park

College Park, MD • Private

In-state tuition

$10,595

Enrollment

30,184

9. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

10. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

In-state tuition

$53,948

Enrollment

17,238

20 best online courses for museum registrars

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1. AWS: Data Collection Systems

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Project Management tips to manage a million dollar IT Project budget from start to finish...

4. Installing Wordpress - Installation, Registrars & Hosting

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Wordpress installation using separate domain registrar and web host, plus why it is essential to set it up that way...

5. Algorithms, Data Collection, and Starting to Code

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This course starts you on your journey learning about computational thinking and beginning C programming. If you’d like to explore how we can interact with the world in a rigorous, computational way, and would also like to start learning to program, this is the course for you! You may have heard lots of talk about computational thinking recently, but if you ask 10 different people what it is you’ll probably get 10 different answers. Rather than trying to define computational thinking, we’ll...

6. Introduction to Software, Programming, and Databases

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Take the next step in your IT professional journey with this self-paced, beginner friendly course! This course covers the basics of software, cloud computing, web browsers, application development concepts, programming languages, and database fundamentals. You will first be introduced to computing platforms and software applications. You’ll learn about the software lifecycle, software compatibility across different platforms, and software versioning. You'll also learn about installing and...

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9. Bank Loan Approval Prediction With Artificial Neural Nets

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14. Become a Mortgage Loan Processor

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Finibi Mortgage CEO, Joe Correa, teaches you how to become a mortgage loan processor...

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Your Guide to the Gold Standard of Project Management Certifications (PMI-PMP) (PMBOK7 updated) (40 PDUs minimum)...

16. Inventory Management in Manufacturing

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17. Projects Cost Management, Estimating, Budgeting and Control.

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20. Program Management Course - Program Manager Essentials

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In this Program Management course you will learn the essentials and more to become an effective Program Manager...

Top 10 most affordable universities for museum registrars

The most affordable schools for museum registrars are University of Florida, fashion institute of technology, and brigham young university.

If the best universities for museum registrars are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for museum registrars.

1. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,381

Cost of attendance

21,034

2. Fashion Institute of Technology

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$5,740

Cost of attendance

17,864

3. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

4. Brooklyn College of the City University of New York

Brooklyn, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,240

Cost of attendance

13,991

5. Hunter College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,182

Cost of attendance

13,998

6. University of Washington

Seattle, WA • Private

In-state tuition

$11,207

Cost of attendance

25,275

7. Purdue University

West Lafayette, IN • Private

In-state tuition

$9,992

Cost of attendance

22,430

8. Minot State University

Minot, ND • Private

In-state tuition

$7,064

Cost of attendance

15,576

9. Florida International University

Miami, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,556

Cost of attendance

19,434

10. Queens College of the City University of New York

Queens, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,338

Cost of attendance

14,281

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for museum registrars

The hardest universities for museum registrars to get into are Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, and Brown University.

Some great schools for museum registrars are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for museum registrars based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

Admissions rate

5%

SAT average

1,520

2. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

Admissions rate

11%

SAT average

1,513

3. Brown University

Providence, RI • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,492

4. Tufts University

Medford, MA • Private

Admissions rate

15%

SAT average

1,461

5. Georgetown University

Washington, DC • Private

Admissions rate

15%

SAT average

1,456

6. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

Admissions rate

4%

SAT average

1,497

7. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,508

8. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,420

9. New York University

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

20%

SAT average

1,419

10. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

Admissions rate

23%

SAT average

1,434

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for museum registrars

The easiest schools for museum registrars to get into are Notre Dame de Namur University, saint joseph's college of maine, and mount saint mary's university.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a museum registrar without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for museum registrars.

1. Notre Dame de Namur University

Belmont, CA • Private

Admissions rate

82%

SAT average

983

2. Saint Joseph's College of Maine

Standish, ME • Private

Admissions rate

84%

SAT average

1,069

3. Mount Saint Mary's University

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

84%

SAT average

1,031

4. Curry College

Milton, MA • Private

Admissions rate

93%

SAT average

1,026

5. Felician University

Lodi, NJ • Private

Admissions rate

81%

SAT average

999

6. Wayland Baptist University

Plainview, TX • Private

Admissions rate

98%

SAT average

1,003

7. Barry University

Miami, FL • Private

Admissions rate

91%

SAT average

1,006

8. Thomas More University

Crestview Hills, KY • Private

Admissions rate

90%

SAT average

1,099

9. Ottawa University

Ottawa, KS • Private

Admissions rate

78%

SAT average

1,024

10. San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA • Private

Admissions rate

72%

SAT average

1,054

Average museum registrar salary by education level

According to our data, museum registrars with a Master's degree earn the highest average salary, at $49,879 annually. Museum registrars with a Bachelor's degree earn an average annual salary of $42,244.
Museum registrar education levelMuseum registrar salary
Master's Degree$49,879
Bachelor's Degree$42,244

Museum registrar education FAQs

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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