FIDM-Fashion Institute
of Design & Merchandising
For-profit Community College in Los Angeles, CA. Six-year graduation rate 65%. Median 10-year earnings $49,840.
Ten years after entry, the median FIDM-Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising student earns $49,840 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. Completion is a strength: 65% of students finish within six years. Median debt at graduation is $13,734, a light load against those earnings. Mobility is where this school separates itself: 2.5% of students move from the bottom income quintile to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.28 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
Admissions
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
Academics
Six-year completion runs to 65% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. The 135:1 student-faculty ratio is high, so large classes and limited faculty contact should be the expectation. This is a for-profit four-year institution. That is not disqualifying, but it does mean verifying accreditation, transferability of credits, and job-placement claims directly rather than trusting the category. The undergraduate body is just 1,391, which shapes everything from class size to how often a required course is offered.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,391 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price averages $39,494 annually, so cost is the first thing to weigh here. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $40,428 while those at $110k+ pay $49,072. 50% of students receive grant aid, averaging $11,968 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing reaches 32% of students.
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 · 40 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 | $40,428 |
| $30–48k | $32,640 |
| $48–75k | $49,183 |
| $75–110k | $50,653 |
| $110k+ | $49,072 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 442 of these 1,391 students, totalling $2,899,875 — an average of $6,561 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Los Angeles County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026