Los Angeles
College of Music
For-profit College in Pasadena, CA. Six-year graduation rate 40%. Median 10-year earnings $31,758.
Ten-year median earnings of $31,758 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. 40% finish within six years — respectable, though a meaningful share still leave without a credential. Median debt at graduation reaches $27,938, 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 0.88 — elevated (above 0.60)
Admissions
Los Angeles College of Music admits 88% of applicants — effectively open admission, so the application is a formality rather than a hurdle. Only 415 students applied, so treat these rates as directional — small pools swing sharply between cycles. Only 18% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere.
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 Los Angeles College of Music →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 40%, meaning about three in five students who enroll leave without finishing. First-year retention is 61% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. 22% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. At 3:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 266 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price — what students actually pay after grant aid — is $44,586 a year, at the high end of undergraduate cost. Net price varies modestly by income — $42,657 at $0–30k against $44,642 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. About 75% get grants averaging $7,613, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. 32% 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 · 64 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 | $42,657 |
| $30–48k | $41,484 |
| $48–75k | $43,352 |
| $75–110k | $49,455 |
| $110k+ | $44,642 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 86 of these 266 students, totalling $312,162 — an average of $3,630 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
Veterans & GI Bill
Heightened Cash Monitoring (Financial Responsibility); School placed on Heightened Cash Monitoring
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)