undergradly.
Private College

College for
Creative Studies

Private College in Detroit, MI. Six-year graduation rate 71%. Median 10-year earnings $44,860.

Verdict Mixed outcomes
College for Creative Studies · Campus
Median earnings · 10 yr
$44,860
Median debt at grad
$26,000
Mobility score
1.1
% bottom→top quintile
Graduation rate
70.6%
Federal loan default
0%

Students who entered College for Creative Studies land at a median of $44,860 a decade later, close to what most four-year schools deliver. 71% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Median debt at graduation is $26,000, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree.

Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.

Green Flags
  • 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Red Flags

Admissions

Acceptance rate
92%
Applicants
1,079
Yield rate
24.9%

Admission is not the constraint here: 92% of applicants are accepted. Only 1,079 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 College for Creative Studies →

Academics

Full-time retention
82%
Transfer-out rate
14%
Student:faculty
10:1

71% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. Retention is strong at 82%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. 14% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. The 10:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. 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

Average net price
$36,055
Full-time, first-time undergraduates paying the in-state rate who were awarded grant or scholarship aid
% receiving grants
98%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
% receiving federal loans
57%
degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,285 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates

Net price averages $36,055 annually, so cost is the first thing to weigh here. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $30,267 at the $0–30k band to $38,580 at $110k+. 98% of students get grant aid averaging $26,478, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Most students borrow — 57% 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.

% receiving grants
98%
Average grant
$30,108

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 258 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 $30,267
$30–48k $33,152
$48–75k $33,647
$75–110k $33,667
$110k+ $38,580

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Federal student loans went to 734 of these 1,285 students, totalling $4,783,537 — an average of $6,517 each.

IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24

Local housing costs

Typical rents near campus (Wayne County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.

Studio
$1,009/mo
1 bedroom
$1,122/mo
2 bedroom (whole unit)
$1,411/mo

HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026

Veterans & GI Bill

GI Bill students
38
Yellow Ribbon
Yes
Principles of Excellence
No

VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)

Compare College for Creative Studies with peer institutions

How we evaluate College for Creative Studies

IPEDS
US Department of Education
College Scorecard
Post-grad earnings
Census PSEO
Earnings by major
Opportunity Insights
Mobility by institution
Read our full methodology →