Design's School
of Cosmetology
For-profit College in Paso Robles, CA. Median 10-year earnings $23,937.
Ten-year median earnings of $23,937 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Graduates leave owing a median of $6,333 — modest by four-year standards.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.26 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Academics
No six-year graduation rate is reported for this institution, which is common for schools whose students are mostly part-time, transfer in, or enroll in short programs that the federal cohort measure does not track. Its absence is not itself a bad sign, but it does remove the clearest completion signal. 93% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. The 15:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. Being a for-profit short-program school is the single most useful context for these numbers — the sector's spread is wide enough that the school-level figures matter more than usual. At 180 undergraduates, expect a small, closely-held student body.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 180 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $16,685 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. Net price varies modestly by income — $15,659 at $0–30k against $21,341 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. 62% of students receive grant aid, averaging $3,898 — common but not automatic. 51% 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 · 37 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 | $15,659 |
| $30–48k | $17,129 |
| $48–75k | $18,050 |
| $75–110k | $21,163 |
| $110k+ | $21,341 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 91 of these 180 students, totalling $389,605 — an average of $4,281 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (San Luis Obispo 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)