Columbus College
of Art & Design
Private College in Columbus, OH. Six-year graduation rate 56%. Median 10-year earnings $40,664.
Students who entered Columbus College of Art & Design reach a median of $40,664 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. Six-year completion sits at 56%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. 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 0.66 — elevated (above 0.60)
Admissions
68% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. Only 1,079 students applied, so treat these rates as directional — small pools swing sharply between cycles. About 32% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range.
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 Columbus College of Art & Design →Academics
56% graduate within six years — average, but that average still hides a large group who do not. First-year retention of 80% 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. 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
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 891 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price — what students actually pay after grant aid — is $31,801 a year, at the high end of undergraduate cost. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $24,204 while those at $110k+ pay $33,114. Grant aid is widespread — 98% of students receive it, averaging $22,725. 70% of students borrow federally, so debt is the norm rather than the exception.
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 · 188 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 | $24,204 |
| $30–48k | $27,218 |
| $48–75k | $27,534 |
| $75–110k | $29,717 |
| $110k+ | $33,114 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 624 of these 891 students, totalling $4,192,639 — an average of $6,719 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Franklin 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)