New York
Conservatory for Dramatic Arts
For-profit College in New York, NY. Six-year graduation rate 73%. Median 10-year earnings $26,921.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $26,921, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Completion is a strength: 73% of students finish within six years. Graduates leave owing a median of $12,000 — modest by four-year standards.
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
New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts admits 43% of applicants and is genuinely selective — roughly three in five applicants are turned away. The applicant pool is small at 575, which makes year-over-year comparisons unreliable. 44% of admitted students actually enroll, which is a high yield by national standards.
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 New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts →Academics
73% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. 83% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. At 18:1, class sizes land in the normal range for an undergraduate institution. Being a for-profit two-year institution 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. The undergraduate body is just 299, 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 299 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price — what students actually pay after grant aid — is $48,620 a year, at the high end of undergraduate cost. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($48,406 versus $50,522), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Most students get help: 100% receive grants worth $16,763 on average. Borrowing is widespread: 75% take federal loans.
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 · 84 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 | $48,406 |
| $30–48k | $44,006 |
| $48–75k | $46,962 |
| $75–110k | $49,803 |
| $110k+ | $50,522 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 225 of these 299 students, totalling $1,500,023 — an average of $6,667 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (New York County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026