Circle in
the Square Theatre School
Private College in New York, NY. Six-year graduation rate 100%. Median 10-year earnings $39,899.
Ten-year median earnings of $39,899 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. 100% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Graduation rate 100% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Admit rate 8% — heavily selective, limited transfer slots
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 8% means admission is the exception — plan accordingly. With 1,012 applicants, admissions statistics here move a lot on small changes. Yield is low at 5%, 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 Circle in the Square Theatre School →Academics
A 100% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. 100% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. A 4:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. 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 — 50 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 50 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $28,089 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. 66% of students receive grant aid, averaging $10,929 — common but not automatic. 48% of students take federal loans, a middling borrowing rate.
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 · 3 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 | $28,089 |
| $30–48k | — |
| $48–75k | — |
| $75–110k | — |
| $110k+ | — |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 24 of these 50 students, totalling $168,570 — an average of $7,024 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
Heightened Cash Monitoring (Compliance Audit Late or Missing); School placed on Heightened Cash Monitoring
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)