Cleveland Institute
of Music
Private College in Cleveland, OH. Six-year graduation rate 72%. Median 10-year earnings $32,641.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $32,641, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Completion is a strength: 72% of students finish within six years. Graduates carry a median of $24,968 in debt — in line with the national norm.
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 0.76 — elevated (above 0.60)
Admissions
At 47%, the acceptance rate makes Cleveland Institute of Music a school worth applying to with alternatives in hand. The applicant pool is small at 427, which makes year-over-year comparisons unreliable. Yield is low at 15%, 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 Cleveland Institute of Music →Academics
A 72% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. First-year retention of 90% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. A 6:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 197 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price averages $29,683 annually, so cost is the first thing to weigh here. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $23,782 at the $0–30k band to $32,629 at $110k+. Most students get help: 99% receive grants worth $26,115 on average. About 32% 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 · 43 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 | $23,782 |
| $30–48k | $29,767 |
| $48–75k | $16,884 |
| $75–110k | $21,212 |
| $110k+ | $32,629 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 64 of these 197 students, totalling $379,426 — an average of $5,929 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Cuyahoga 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)