American Academy
of Dramatic Arts-New York
Private College in New York, NY. Six-year graduation rate 96%. Median 10-year earnings $27,019.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $27,019, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Completion is a strength: 96% of students finish within six years. Borrowing stays contained, with median debt at graduation of $12,000.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Graduation rate 96% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
American Academy of Dramatic Arts-New York admits 92% of applicants — effectively open admission, so the application is a formality rather than a hurdle. Only 286 students applied, so treat these rates as directional — small pools swing sharply between cycles. Yield sits at 25% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at American Academy of Dramatic Arts-New York →Academics
A 96% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. Retention is strong at 96%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. At 8:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. This is a private nonprofit two-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically. This is a small school — 225 undergraduates — so cohorts are tight and the program list is necessarily short.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 225 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $50,395 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. Net price varies modestly by income — $50,799 at $0–30k against $58,766 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. 100% of students get grant aid averaging $12,670, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. About 51% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 105 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $50,799 |
| $30–48k | $51,926 |
| $48–75k | $57,280 |
| $75–110k | $58,224 |
| $110k+ | $58,766 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 115 of these 225 students, totalling $747,352 — an average of $6,499 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (New York County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)