Private nonprofit · College

Columbus College of Art & Design

Columbus, Ohio · Large city

67.7%
Admit rate
$29,439
Avg net price
56%
Graduation rate
$40,664
Median earnings

Columbus College of Art & Design is a private nonprofit bachelor's-granting institution in Columbus, Ohio (large city setting), enrolling 882 undergraduates.

Private nonprofitSmall · 882 undergradsLarge cityAccessible · 68% admitCold winters

About Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. Between 1000 B.C. and 1700 A.D., the Columbus metropolitan area was a center to indigenous cultures known as the Mound Builders, including the Adena, Hopewell and Fort Ancient peoples. Remaining physical evidence of the cultures are their burial mounds and what they contained. Columbus has over 170 notable buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places; it also maintains its own register, the Columbus Register of Historic Properties, with 82 entries. (Wikipedia)

Setting
Large city
Highest degree offered
Graduate
Nearest big city
1 mile to Columbus, OH
To Great Lakes shore
101 miles
Nearest airport
6 miles to John Glenn Columbus (CMH) · major hub

How Columbus College of Art & Design compares

Selectivity67.7%

More selective than 67% · #21 most selective of 65 in Ohio

Graduation rate56%

Higher than 52% · #37 of 73 in Ohio

First-year retention80%

Higher than 64%

Earnings, 10 years after entry$40,664

Higher than 15% · #63 of 74 in Ohio

Average net price$29,439

Cheaper than 17% · #63 cheapest of 73 in Ohio

Median debt at graduation$27,000

Lower than 11%

Student–faculty ratio10 : 1

Lower than 76%

Undergraduate enrollment882

Larger than 34%

Percentiles compare Columbus College of Art & Design with the nation's 2,196 four-year colleges, among schools reporting each statistic. State ranks count four-year colleges in Ohio.

Student body

Undergraduate vs. graduate

914students
  • Undergraduate88296%
  • Graduate324%

Undergraduates by gender

882undergrads
  • Women61770%
  • Men26530%

Undergraduates by race / ethnicity

  • White66%
  • Black12%
  • Hispanic8.7%
  • Asian4.1%
  • Other or multiracial8.6%

Graduate gender splits aren't published in this data, so the gender chart covers undergraduates only.

By the numbers

Undergraduate enrollment
882
Graduate enrollment
32
Student–faculty ratio
10 : 1
Pell Grant recipients
39%
First-generation students
25%
Students over 25
7%
Median family income
$58,108
Avg faculty salary (academic year)
$50,967
Endowment
$25,812,422

Colleges don't publish true class-size data; student–faculty ratio (IPEDS) is the closest public measure of it.

Where students come from

Home state of the 189 first-year students who entered in fall 2023.

  • From Ohio69%
  • Other U.S. states31%
  • International0.5%

A regional draw: about 69% of first-years come from Ohio, the rest from elsewhere.

1% came from outside the U.S. Out-of-state students usually pay a higher tuition rate at public schools — check the cost card above for your bracket. Source: IPEDS residence & migration, fall 2023 entering class.

Admissions

Admission rate
67.7%
Test scores
Not considered
SAT range (25th–75th %)
SAT average
SAT reading
SAT math
ACT composite

Cost

In-state tuition
$40,825
Room & board
$11,450
Books & supplies
$5,050
Total cost of attendance
$54,443
Average net price
$29,439

Net price is the total cost minus grants and scholarships — what students actually pay. It varies sharply by family income; see the breakdown below.

Outcomes

Graduated (within 6 years)
56%
Graduated on time (4 years)
48%
First-year retention
80%
Transferred to another college
0%
Median earnings, 6 years after entry
$30,590
Median earnings, 10 years after entry
$40,664
Median debt at graduation
$27,000
Students with federal loans
70%
Paying down their loans (1 year in)
53%

About 8% of students who finish here need more than four years — each extra year adds roughly another year of tuition and living costs.

Graduating on time

By student background (4 years)

All students
48%
Low-income (Pell)
57%
First-generation
56%

When these bars run close together, students from every background tend to finish at similar rates — a sign the school supports the ~30% who are first-gen or low-income.

Campus life & athletics

On-campus housing
Yes
Dorm capacity
456
Dorm capacity vs undergrads
52%
Housing charge (year)
$8,596
Meal plan (year)
$6,586
Application fee
$50

Housing and fees: IPEDS 2023–24. Athletics rosters: Equity in Athletics data, 2024–25. Dorm capacity can include graduate and family housing, so the share of undergrads can top 100%.

Campus safety

Safety grade
C
Reported offenses per 1,000 students
4.0 / year
Violent offenses (2022–2024)
1
Property offenses (2022–2024)
10

On-campus criminal offenses reported under the Clery Act, 2022–2024, across 1 campus (916 students). Counts reflect reports, not convictions — schools with strong reporting cultures often show more, so a higher count doesn't simply mean a more dangerous campus.

Reported offenses in an average year

The same 2022–2024 Clery Act reports, divided down to one year.

3.7reported offenses a year
0.3 violent a year3.3 property a year

By offense type, per year

Motor vehicle theft
3.3
Rape
0.3

Averages, not a forecast — a single year can run well above or below this. Bars are scaled against this campus's most-reported offense, so they compare types here rather than against other schools.

What you'll actually pay, by family income

Average net price (total cost minus grants and scholarships) paid by aided students in each family-income band.

< $30k
$24,204
$30–48k
$27,218
$48–75k
$27,534
$75–110k
$29,717
$110k+
$33,114

College Scorecard / IPEDS, most recent year. Family income is total household income; net price covers tuition, fees, room, board and supplies after grant aid, for students receiving federal aid.

Four-year (or more) true cost

Net price for your family's income, projected across the time it actually takes students here to graduate.

Est. total to a degree
$115,781

$27,534/year × about 4.2 years — most students here don't finish in exactly four, and each extra term adds cost. A planning estimate from net-price and graduation-timing data, not a bill.

Does the school pay you to attend?

Grant aid from the school's own funds — the discount off sticker, on top of any federal or state help.

97%
of first-years get a grant from the school
$18,637
average award, among those who get one

Columbus College of Art & Design discounts heavily: 97% of freshmen are awarded a grant straight from the school, averaging $18,637. For many families the real price lands well below sticker.

Blends need-based and merit aid — IPEDS doesn't split the two, so a high number can mean generous merit scholarships, deep need-based aid, or both. Figures cover 225 full-time first-year undergraduates, 2022–23. Source: IPEDS Student Financial Aid.

Is it worth it?

A rough return-on-investment read from what graduates earn versus what they borrow.

Median earnings (10 years)
$40,664
Typical debt at graduation
$27,000
Debt vs. one year's pay
66%
Out-earn a HS grad
49%

Typical debt would take roughly 6.6 years to repay at about a tenth of median earnings.

Weigh it value

The payoff is less clear-cut here — weigh the debt against the earnings and your intended field before borrowing heavily.

Earnings are the College Scorecard median for former students (working, not enrolled) 10 years after entry — not a guarantee, and they vary a lot by major. Debt is the median federal loan balance at graduation.

The pay gap here

Median earnings 10 years after entry, split by gender.

Women
$38,564
Men
$47,673

Men out-earn women by $9,109 (24%) a decade out.

Federal figures for former students working and not enrolled, 10 years after they first entered. A gap this wide usually reflects which majors men and women here tend to choose — not different pay for the same job.

Campus climate

Summer high
85°F
Winter low
21°F
Annual rain
44.7″
Annual snow
28.2″

Average temperature

HighLow
10°50°90°JFMAMJJASOND

Average precipitation (inches)

0.02.44.8JFMAMJJASOND

NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Columbus Wcmh, OH US station (4.5 mi from campus).

Median earnings of this school's own graduates 1 and 5 years after finishing each program, and median federal-loan debt at completion (College Scorecard). Small programs are privacy-suppressed (—). Click a major to compare colleges nationally.

Colleges similar to Columbus College of Art & Design

Schools with a comparable profile — size, selectivity, cost, and graduate outcomes. Compare Columbus College of Art & Design side by side →

Colleges near Columbus College of Art & Design

Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts), IPEDS institutional characteristics, Equity in Athletics (EADA) data, Clery Act Campus Safety and Security data, and NOAA US Climate Normals. Distances are straight-line from campus coordinates. Percentiles compare schools of the same level (four-year vs. two-year) that report each statistic.