Private for-profit · College

Northwest College of Art & Design

Tacoma, Washington · Midsize city

#5 most selective in Washington

66.0%
Admit rate: $16,418
Avg net price: 58%
Graduation rate: $31,167
Median earnings

Northwest College of Art & Design is a private for-profit bachelor's-granting institution in Tacoma, Washington (midsize city setting), enrolling 139 undergraduates.

Private for-profitSmall · 139 undergradsMidsize cityAccessible · 66% admitNear the coast

About Tacoma, Washington

Tacoma is a city in and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. In 1852, Swedish immigrant Nicolas Delin built a water-powered sawmill on a creek near the head of Commencement Bay, but the small settlement that grew around it was abandoned during the Indian War of 1855–56. Tacoma adopted a percent for art ordinance in 1975, allocating one percent of construction costs from major public projects to public art. (Wikipedia)

Setting: Midsize city
Highest degree offered: Bachelor's
Nearest big city: 25 miles to Seattle, WA
To the ocean: 1 mile
Nearest airport: 7 miles to Tacoma Narrows (TIW)

How Northwest College of Art & Design compares

Selectivity66.0%

More selective than 69% · #5 most selective of 21 in Washington

Graduation rate58%

Higher than 57% · #16 of 25 in Washington

First-year retention77%

Higher than 51%

Earnings, 10 years after entry$31,167

Higher than 4% · #27 of 27 in Washington

Average net price$16,418

Cheaper than 67% · #7 cheapest of 25 in Washington

Median debt at graduation$30,750

Lower than 4%

Student–faculty ratio34 : 1

Lower than 2%

Undergraduate enrollment139

Larger than 10%

Percentiles compare Northwest 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 Washington.

Student body

Undergraduates by gender

Women8863%
Men5137%

Undergraduates by race / ethnicity

White58%
Black10%
Hispanic19%
Asian4.3%
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: 139
Student–faculty ratio: 34 : 1
Pell Grant recipients: 51%
First-generation students: —
Students over 25: 15%
Median family income: $49,729

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

Admissions

Admission rate: 66.0%
Test scores: Not considered
SAT range (25th–75th %): —
SAT average: —
SAT reading: —
SAT math: —
ACT composite: —

Cost

In-state tuition: $18,100
Room & board: —
Books & supplies: $800
Total cost of attendance: $30,038
Average net price: $16,418

Outcomes

Graduated (within 6 years): 58%
Graduated on time (4 years): 46%
First-year retention: 77%
Transferred to another college: 0%
Median earnings, 6 years after entry: $27,505
Median earnings, 10 years after entry: $31,167
Median debt at graduation: $30,750
Students with federal loans: 48%
Paying down their loans (1 year in): 36%

Campus life & athletics

On-campus housing: No
Application fee: Free

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

$12,977

$30–48k

$11,857

$48–75k

$17,146

$75–110k

$24,031

$110k+

$29,101

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.

Family income

Est. total to a degree

$73,729

$17,146/year × about 4.3 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.

20%

of first-years get a grant from the school

$1,067

average award, among those who get one

Modest institutional aid: 20% of freshmen get a grant from the school, averaging $1,067. Most of what lowers the price here is federal or state money, not the school's own funds.

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 46 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): $31,167
Typical debt at graduation: $30,750
Debt vs. one year's pay: 99%
Out-earn a HS grad: 44%

Typical debt would take roughly 9.9 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

$35,842

Men

$27,014

Women out-earn men by $8,828 (33%) 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: 77°F
Winter low: 37°F
Annual rain: 40.8″
Annual snow: 5.6″

Average temperature

HighLow

Average precipitation (inches)

NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Tacoma #1, WA US station (1.3 mi from campus).

What Northwest College of Art & Design graduates study — and earn

Design and Applied Arts

17 grads$28k 1 yr— 5 yr$31k debt

17$27,694—$30,750

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 Northwest College of Art & Design

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

Eastern International College-Jersey City

For-profit

Jersey City, New Jersey · Large city · 3 mi to New York

Students: 495
Admission: 70%
Net price: $21k
SAT: —
GPA: —
Earnings: $35k

Nossi College of Art and Design

For-profit

Nashville, Tennessee · Large city · 6 mi to Nashville

Students: 247
Admission: 46%
Net price: $24k
SAT: —
GPA: —
Earnings: $35k

Five Towns College

For-profit

Dix Hills, New York · Large suburb · 34 mi to New York

Students: 547
Admission: 54%
Net price: $23k
SAT: —
GPA: —
Earnings: $36k

South University-West Palm Beach

For-profit

Royal Palm Beach, Florida · Large suburb · 9 mi to West Palm Beach

Students: 251
Admission: —
Net price: $20k
SAT: —
GPA: —
Earnings: $34k

American InterContinental University-Houston

For-profit

Houston, Texas · Large city · 11 mi to Houston

Students: 94
Admission: —
Net price: $20k
SAT: —
GPA: —
Earnings: $36k

Careers Unlimited

For-profit

Orem, Utah · Small city · 35 mi to Salt Lake City

Students: 118
Admission: —
Net price: —
SAT: —
GPA: —
Earnings: $31k

Colleges near Northwest College of Art & Design

Bates Technical College

Tacoma, WA · Public · Certificate · 1,813 students

< 1 mi

University of Washington-Tacoma Campus

Tacoma, WA · Public · Bachelor's · 4,185 students

1 mi

University of Puget Sound

Tacoma, WA · Private nonprofit · Bachelor's · 1,594 students

2 mi

Summit Salon Academy

Tacoma, WA · Private for-profit · Certificate · 138 students

3 mi

Tacoma Community College

Tacoma, WA · Public · Associate · 4,668 students

4 mi

Faith International University

Tacoma, WA · Private nonprofit · Bachelor's · 276 students

4 mi

UEI College-Tacoma

Tacoma, WA · Private for-profit · Certificate · 689 students

4 mi

Clover Park Technical College

Lakewood, WA · Public · Certificate · 2,636 students

6 mi

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.