Laguna College
of Art and Design
Private College in Laguna Beach, CA. Six-year graduation rate 52%. Median 10-year earnings $47,867.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $47,867 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. 52% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. 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
Admissions
Admission is not the constraint here: 94% of applicants are accepted. With 528 applicants, admissions statistics here move a lot on small changes. 23% of those admitted enroll, which is unremarkable in either direction.
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
Completion is middling: 52% finish inside six years. First-year retention of 84% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. At 9:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. 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 776 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $47,702 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $37,203 at the $0–30k band to $46,889 at $110k+. Most students get help: 100% receive grants worth $12,292 on average. About 43% 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 · 133 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 | $37,203 |
| $30–48k | $38,156 |
| $48–75k | $40,258 |
| $75–110k | $44,233 |
| $110k+ | $46,889 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 337 of these 776 students, totalling $1,579,834 — an average of $4,688 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Orange 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)