Maine College
of Art & Design
Private College in Portland, ME. Six-year graduation rate 52%. Median 10-year earnings $40,778.
Students who entered Maine College of Art & Design reach a median of $40,778 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. Six-year completion sits at 52%, 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
76% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. Only 994 students applied, so treat these rates as directional — small pools swing sharply between cycles. Only 16% 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 Maine College of Art & Design →Academics
Completion is middling: 52% finish inside six years. 72% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in four are gone before sophomore year. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. At 8:1, 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 413 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $39,639 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. The income table below is the number that matters — $31,589 at $0–30k versus $42,001 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 100% of students receive it, averaging $21,026. 69% 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 · 120 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 | $31,589 |
| $30–48k | $33,075 |
| $48–75k | $35,283 |
| $75–110k | $40,992 |
| $110k+ | $42,001 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 287 of these 413 students, totalling $1,920,107 — an average of $6,690 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Cumberland 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)