Private for-profit · College

Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design

Lakewood, Colorado · Large suburb

Admit rate
$32,363
Avg net price
32%
Graduation rate
$42,958
Median earnings

Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design is a private for-profit bachelor's-granting institution in Lakewood, Colorado (large suburb setting), enrolling 2,050 undergraduates.

Private for-profitMidsize · 2,050 undergradsLarge suburbCold wintersSnowy

About Lakewood, Colorado

Lakewood is the home rule city that is the most populous municipality in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The urban and suburban development of the community known as Lakewood was started in 1889 by Charles Welch and W.A.H. Loveland, who platted a 13-block area along Colfax Avenue west of Denver in eastern Jefferson County. Belmar is the town center with a mix of retail, residential, cultural, and public space. (Wikipedia)

Setting
Large suburb
Highest degree offered
Bachelor's
Nearest big city
4 miles to Denver, CO
To the ocean
742 miles
Nearest airport
12 miles to Rocky Mountain Metropolitan (BJC)

How Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design compares

Graduation rate32%

Higher than 13% · #17 of 19 in Colorado

First-year retention54%

Higher than 8%

Earnings, 10 years after entry$42,958

Higher than 19% · #18 of 22 in Colorado

Average net price$32,363

Cheaper than 12% · #17 cheapest of 20 in Colorado

Median debt at graduation$31,000

Lower than 3%

Student–faculty ratio13 : 1

Lower than 50%

Undergraduate enrollment2,050

Larger than 58%

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

Student body

Undergraduates by gender

2,050undergrads
  • Women1,40869%
  • Men64231%

Undergraduates by race / ethnicity

  • White54%
  • Black14%
  • Hispanic16%
  • Asian2.8%
  • Other or multiracial13%

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

By the numbers

Undergraduate enrollment
2,050
Student–faculty ratio
13 : 1
Pell Grant recipients
48%
First-generation students
34%
Students over 25
43%
Median family income
$28,600
Avg faculty salary (academic year)
$50,292

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

Cost

In-state tuition
$20,190
Room & board
Books & supplies
$1,460
Total cost of attendance
$37,505
Average net price
$32,363

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)
32%
Graduated on time (4 years)
24%
First-year retention
54%
Transferred to another college
0%
Median earnings, 6 years after entry
$30,280
Median earnings, 10 years after entry
$42,958
Median debt at graduation
$31,000
Students with federal loans
60%
Paying down their loans (1 year in)
48%

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
24%
Low-income (Pell)
24%
First-generation
22%

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
No
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
A
Reported offenses per 1,000 students
0.5 / year
Violent offenses (2022–2024)
2
Property offenses (2022–2024)
1

On-campus criminal offenses reported under the Clery Act, 2022–2024, across 1 campus (2,061 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.

1.0reported offenses a year
0.7 violent a year0.3 property a year

By offense type, per year

Robbery
0.3
Aggravated assault
0.3
Burglary
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
$29,847
$30–48k
$29,351
$48–75k
$32,387
$75–110k
$36,040
$110k+
$36,201

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
$142,137

$32,387/year × about 4.4 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.

66%
of first-years get a grant from the school
$2,867
average award, among those who get one

Modest institutional aid: 66% of freshmen get a grant from the school, averaging $2,867. 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 130 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)
$42,958
Typical debt at graduation
$31,000
Debt vs. one year's pay
72%
Out-earn a HS grad
47%

Typical debt would take roughly 7.2 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
$40,498
Men
$45,658

Men out-earn women by $5,160 (13%) 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
86°F
Winter low
20°F
Annual rain
17.5″
Annual snow
58″

Average temperature

HighLow
10°50°90°JFMAMJJASOND

Average precipitation (inches)

0.01.32.6JFMAMJJASOND

NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Lakewood, CO US station (2.7 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 Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design

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

Colleges near Rocky Mountain College of Art and 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.