Otis College
of Art and Design
Private College in Los Angeles, CA. Six-year graduation rate 66%. Median 10-year earnings $58,152.
Ten years after entry, the median Otis College of Art and Design student earns $58,152 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. 66% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Median debt at graduation reaches $27,000, heavy enough to shape the years right after the degree. On economic mobility, 4.3% of students travel 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.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 82% puts Otis College of Art and Design on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. 2,549 students applied in the most recent cycle — a mid-sized pool drawn mostly from the surrounding region. Yield is low at 11%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. 4% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.
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 | 665–720 | 8 (4%) |
| SAT Math | 600–675 | |
| ACT Composite | — | 1 |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Otis College of Art and Design →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 66% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. First-year retention is 74% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. At 9:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university. As a private nonprofit four-year college, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions. This is a small school — 1,243 undergraduates — so cohorts are tight and the program list is necessarily short.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,242 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price averages $54,295 annually, so cost is the first thing to weigh here. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $44,731 while those at $110k+ pay $60,718. Grant aid is widespread — 97% of students receive it, averaging $24,682. 45% 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 · 235 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 | $44,731 |
| $30–48k | $44,821 |
| $48–75k | $28,167 |
| $75–110k | $52,495 |
| $110k+ | $60,718 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 553 of these 1,242 students, totalling $3,830,729 — an average of $6,927 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
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)