School of
the Art Institute of Chicago
Private College in Chicago, IL. Six-year graduation rate 67%. Median 10-year earnings $40,151.
Students who entered School of the Art Institute of Chicago reach a median of $40,151 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. The six-year graduation rate of 67% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Graduates leave owing a median of $27,000 — a substantial load to service on these earnings.
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 0.67 — elevated (above 0.60)
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 77% puts School of the Art Institute of Chicago on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. The applicant pool runs to 6,626, typical for a school of this reach. A 12% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering 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 | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at School of the Art Institute of Chicago →Academics
67% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. Retention is strong at 84%, and first-year attrition is where most degrees are lost. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. 23% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. At 10:1, 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 2,761 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price — what students actually pay after grant aid — is $55,631 a year, at the high end of undergraduate cost. The income table below is the number that matters — $43,798 at $0–30k versus $55,790 at $110k+. 93% of students get grant aid averaging $18,877, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. 37% 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 · 675 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 | $43,798 |
| $30–48k | $39,845 |
| $48–75k | $46,708 |
| $75–110k | $49,595 |
| $110k+ | $55,790 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 1,033 of these 2,761 students, totalling $7,254,956 — an average of $7,023 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Cook 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)