Private nonprofit · College
Maine College of Art & Design
Portland, Maine · Small city
- 76.1%
- Admit rate
- $38,338
- Avg net price
- 52%
- Graduation rate
- $40,778
- Median earnings
Maine College of Art & Design is a private nonprofit bachelor's-granting institution in Portland, Maine (small city setting), enrolling 415 undergraduates.
About Portland, Maine
Portland is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine. The original Algonquin-speaking Eastern Abenaki residents called the Portland peninsula Machigonne ("great neck"). It is also called Məkíhkanək ("at the fish hook") in Penobscot. Portland has a long history of prominence in the arts, peaking the first time in the early 19th century, when the city was "a rival, and not a satellite of either Boston or New York." In that period, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow got his start as a poet and John Neal held a central position in leading American literature toward its great renaissance, having founded Maine's first literary periodical, The Yankee, in 1828. (Wikipedia)
- Setting
- Small city
- Highest degree offered
- Graduate
- Nearest big city
- Portland, ME
- To the ocean
- < 1 mile
- Nearest airport
- 3 miles to Portland International Jetport (PWM) · major hub
How Maine College of Art & Design compares
More selective than 52% · #6 most selective of 15 in Maine
Higher than 43% · #11 of 17 in Maine
Higher than 35%
Higher than 16% · #14 of 17 in Maine
Cheaper than 6% · #17 cheapest of 17 in Maine
Lower than 11%
Lower than 89%
Larger than 19%
Percentiles compare Maine 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 Maine.
Student body
Undergraduate vs. graduate
- Undergraduate41588%
- Graduate5812%
Undergraduates by gender
- Women30373%
- Men11227%
Undergraduates by race / ethnicity
- White78%
- Black0.7%
- Hispanic7.2%
- Asian2.4%
- Other or multiracial12%
Graduate gender splits aren't published in this data, so the gender chart covers undergraduates only.
By the numbers
- Undergraduate enrollment
- 415
- Graduate enrollment
- 58
- Student–faculty ratio
- 8 : 1
- Pell Grant recipients
- 29%
- First-generation students
- 24%
- Students over 25
- 6%
- Median family income
- $56,586
- Avg faculty salary (academic year)
- $67,761
- Endowment
- $17,656,671
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 121 first-year students who entered in fall 2023.
- From Maine17%
- Other U.S. states83%
- International0.8%
A national draw — only 17% of first-years come from Maine; 82% arrive from other states.
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
- 76.1%
- Test scores
- Not considered
- SAT range (25th–75th %)
- —
- SAT average
- —
- SAT reading
- —
- SAT math
- —
- ACT composite
- —
Cost
- In-state tuition
- $42,942
- Room & board
- $17,184
- Books & supplies
- $1,250
- Total cost of attendance
- $60,128
- Average net price
- $38,338
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)
- 52%
- Graduated on time (4 years)
- 47%
- First-year retention
- 72%
- Transferred to another college
- 5%
- Median earnings, 6 years after entry
- $24,333
- Median earnings, 10 years after entry
- $40,778
- Median debt at graduation
- $27,000
- Students with federal loans
- 69%
- Paying down their loans (1 year in)
- 63%
Graduating on time
By student background (4 years)
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
- 344
- Dorm capacity vs undergrads
- 83%
- Housing charge (year)
- $9,750
- Meal plan (year)
- $6,888
- Application fee
- $40
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
- 2.8 / year
- Violent offenses (2022–2024)
- 2
- Property offenses (2022–2024)
- 2
On-campus criminal offenses reported under the Clery Act, 2022–2024, across 1 campus (475 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.
By offense type, per year
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.
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.
$35,283/year × about 4.1 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.
Maine College of Art & Design discounts heavily: 100% of freshmen are awarded a grant straight from the school, averaging $18,393. 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 96 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)
- $40,778
- Typical debt at graduation
- $27,000
- Debt vs. one year's pay
- 66%
- Out-earn a HS grad
- 34%
Typical debt would take roughly 6.6 years to repay at about a tenth of median earnings.
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.
Campus climate
- Summer high
- 80°F
- Winter low
- 16°F
- Annual rain
- 48.1″
- Annual snow
- 68.7″
Average temperature
HighLowAverage precipitation (inches)
NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Portland Intl Jetport, ME US station (2 mi from campus).
What Maine College of Art & Design graduates study — and earn
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 Maine College of Art & Design
Schools with a comparable profile — size, selectivity, cost, and graduate outcomes. Compare Maine College of Art & Design side by side →
Pacific Northwest College of Art
Portland, Oregon · Large city · 1 mi to Portland
- Students
- 420
- Admission
- 75%
- Net price
- $36k
- SAT
- —
- GPA
- —
- Earnings
- $35k
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College
Saint Mary of the Woods, Indiana · Fringe rural · 72 mi to Indianapolis
- Students
- 853
- Admission
- 72%
- Net price
- $32k
- SAT
- —
- GPA
- —
- Earnings
- $44k
Lees-McRae College
Banner Elk, North Carolina · Distant rural · 55 mi to Asheville
- Students
- 873
- Admission
- 77%
- Net price
- $28k
- SAT
- —
- GPA
- —
- Earnings
- $43k
College of the Atlantic
Bar Harbor, Maine · Remote rural · 113 mi to Portland
- Students
- 353
- Admission
- 70%
- Net price
- $25k
- SAT
- 1370
- GPA
- 3.8
- Earnings
- $40k
Columbus College of Art & Design
Columbus, Ohio · Large city · 1 mi to Columbus
- Students
- 882
- Admission
- 68%
- Net price
- $29k
- SAT
- —
- GPA
- —
- Earnings
- $41k
Paul Smiths College of Arts and Science
Paul Smiths, New York · Distant rural · 51 mi to Burlington
- Students
- 579
- Admission
- 77%
- Net price
- $27k
- SAT
- —
- GPA
- —
- Earnings
- $46k
Colleges near Maine College of Art & Design
Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts
Portland, ME · Private nonprofit · Graduate
University of Southern Maine
Portland, ME · Public · Bachelor's · 4,222 students
Southern Maine Community College
South Portland, ME · Public · Associate · 5,675 students
Spa Tech Institute-Westbrook
Westbrook, ME · Private for-profit · Certificate · 263 students
Northeast Technical Institute
Scarborough, ME · Private for-profit · Certificate · 74 students
University of New England
Biddeford, ME · Private nonprofit · Bachelor's · 2,135 students
Saint Joseph's College of Maine
Standish, ME · Private nonprofit · Bachelor's · 964 students
Unity Environmental University
New Gloucester, ME · Private nonprofit · Bachelor's · 6,483 students
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.













