Art Academy
of Cincinnati
Private College in Cincinnati, OH. Six-year graduation rate 41%. Median 10-year earnings $34,368.
Ten-year median earnings of $34,368 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. The six-year graduation rate is 41%, meaning about three in five students who start do not finish. Median debt at graduation reaches $27,000, heavy enough to shape the years right after the degree.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Debt-to-income ratio 0.79 — elevated (above 0.60)
Admissions
Art Academy of Cincinnati admits 34% of applicants and is genuinely selective — roughly two in three applicants are turned away. The applicant pool is small at 1,293, which makes year-over-year comparisons unreliable. Yield is low at 11%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling.
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 Art Academy of Cincinnati →Academics
41% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. 51% first-year retention is low enough to be the defining risk of enrolling here. At 9:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. This is a private nonprofit four-year college, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically. The undergraduate body is just 255, which shapes everything from class size to how often a required course is offered.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 254 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price averages $33,491 annually, so cost is the first thing to weigh here. Net price varies modestly by income — $33,835 at $0–30k against $36,786 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. Most students get help: 100% receive grants worth $15,114 on average. Most students borrow — 69% take federal loans to cover the gap.
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 · 57 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 | $33,835 |
| $30–48k | $26,702 |
| $48–75k | $34,052 |
| $75–110k | $41,927 |
| $110k+ | $36,786 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 176 of these 254 students, totalling $2,101,700 — an average of $11,941 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Hamilton 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)