The Salon
Professional Academy-Cedar Falls
For-profit College in Cedar Falls, IA. Median 10-year earnings $20,955.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $20,955, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. Graduates leave owing a median of $12,500 — 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
Academics
No six-year graduation rate is reported for this institution, which is common for schools whose students are mostly part-time, transfer in, or enroll in short programs that the federal cohort measure does not track. Its absence is not itself a bad sign, but it does remove the clearest completion signal. 64% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. A 23:1 ratio means students need to be deliberate about getting faculty time. As a for-profit short-program school, outcomes here deserve a harder look than the sector average suggests: for-profit institutions vary enormously, and the sector's aggregate numbers hide both strong and very weak performers.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 129 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $11,010 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Net price varies modestly by income — $11,221 at $0–30k against $17,247 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. Only 43% of students receive grant aid, so most families are paying near the published price. About 43% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
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 · 41 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 | $11,221 |
| $30–48k | $13,826 |
| $48–75k | $12,338 |
| $75–110k | — |
| $110k+ | $17,247 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 56 of these 129 students, totalling $428,086 — an average of $7,644 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Black Hawk County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
Heightened Cash Monitoring (Financial Responsibility); School placed on Heightened Cash Monitoring
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)