Rhode Island
School of Design
Private College in Providence, RI. Six-year graduation rate 89%. Median 10-year earnings $68,140.
Students who entered Rhode Island School of Design reach a median of $68,140 ten years later, which puts this school in the upper band of undergraduate earnings outcomes. The six-year graduation rate of 89% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. 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.
- ✓ Graduation rate 89% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
This is a highly selective admit: 19% of applicants receive an offer. The applicant pool runs to 6,692, typical for a school of this reach. 42% of admitted students actually enroll, which is a high yield by national standards. 15% 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 | 688–750 | 80 (15%) |
| SAT Math | 708–780 | |
| ACT Composite | 31–34 | 17 (3%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Rhode Island School of Design →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 89% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. Retention is strong at 95%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. A 8:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor. 2,092 undergraduates makes this a mid-sized institution.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 2,090 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price — what students actually pay after grant aid — is $43,492 a year, at the high end of undergraduate cost. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $29,135 while those at $110k+ pay $64,493. Only 36% of students receive grant aid, so most families are paying near the published price. 29% 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 · 504 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 | $29,135 |
| $30–48k | $30,233 |
| $48–75k | $25,872 |
| $75–110k | $33,893 |
| $110k+ | $64,493 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 598 of these 2,090 students, totalling $3,820,795 — an average of $6,389 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Providence 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)