Private nonprofit · Institute

Southern California Institute of Architecture

Los Angeles, California · Large city

76.6%
Admit rate
$43,923
Avg net price
71%
Graduation rate
$71,909
Median earnings

Southern California Institute of Architecture is a private nonprofit bachelor's-granting institution in Los Angeles, California (large city setting), enrolling 236 undergraduates.

Private nonprofitSmall · 236 undergradsLarge cityAccessible · 77% admitNear the coast

About Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles is the most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Southern California. The historic center of Tongva power in the region was the settlement of Yaanga (Tongva: Iyáangẚ), meaning "place of the poison oak", which would eventually be the site where the Spanish founded the Pueblo de Los Ángeles. Iyáangẚ has also been translated as "the valley of smoke". Los Angeles is often billed as the creative capital of the world because one in every six of its residents works in a creative industry and there are more artists, writers, filmmakers, actors, dancers and musicians living and working in Los Angeles than any other city at any other time in world history. (Wikipedia)

Setting
Large city
Highest degree offered
Graduate
To the ocean
14 miles
Nearest airport
10 miles to Jack Northrop Field Hawthorne (HHR)

How Southern California Institute of Architecture compares

Selectivity76.6%

More selective than 51% · #56 most selective of 107 in California

Graduation rate71%

Higher than 80% · #40 of 122 in California

First-year retention91%

Higher than 88%

Earnings, 10 years after entry$71,909

Higher than 85% · #47 of 130 in California

Average net price$43,923

Cheaper than 2% · #103 cheapest of 118 in California

Student–faculty ratio9 : 1

Lower than 83%

Undergraduate enrollment236

Larger than 14%

Percentiles compare Southern California Institute of Architecture with the nation's 2,196 four-year colleges, among schools reporting each statistic. State ranks count four-year colleges in California.

Student body

Undergraduate vs. graduate

417students
  • Undergraduate23657%
  • Graduate18143%

Undergraduates by gender

236undergrads
  • Women9942%
  • Men13758%

Undergraduates by race / ethnicity

  • White17%
  • Black3.0%
  • Hispanic17%
  • Asian13%
  • Other or multiracial50%

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

By the numbers

Undergraduate enrollment
236
Graduate enrollment
181
Student–faculty ratio
9 : 1
Pell Grant recipients
21%
First-generation students
Students over 25
18%
Median family income
$27,841
Avg faculty salary (academic year)
$82,728
Endowment
$6,805,000

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

Admissions

Admission rate
76.6%
Test scores
Considered but not required
SAT range (25th–75th %)
SAT average
SAT reading
SAT math
ACT composite

Cost

In-state tuition
$56,162
Room & board
Books & supplies
$1,700
Total cost of attendance
$71,612
Average net price
$43,923

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)
71%
Graduated on time (4 years)
0%
First-year retention
91%
Transferred to another college
0%
Median earnings, 6 years after entry
$53,274
Median earnings, 10 years after entry
$71,909
Median debt at graduation
Students with federal loans
24%
Paying down their loans (1 year in)
48%

About 71% of students who finish here need more than four years — each extra year adds roughly another year of tuition and living costs.

Campus life & athletics

On-campus housing
No
Application fee
$85

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
D
Reported offenses per 1,000 students
6.4 / year
Violent offenses (2022–2024)
1
Property offenses (2022–2024)
7

On-campus criminal offenses reported under the Clery Act, 2022–2024, across 1 campus (418 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.

2.7reported offenses a year
0.3 violent a year2.3 property a year

By offense type, per year

Motor vehicle theft
2.0
Robbery
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
$36,824
$30–48k
$38,430
$48–75k
$66,362
$75–110k
$110k+

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
$364,991

$66,362/year × about 5.5 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.

25%
of first-years get a grant from the school
$32,711
average award, among those who get one

Modest institutional aid: 25% of freshmen get a grant from the school, averaging $32,711. 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 28 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)
$71,909
Typical debt at graduation
Debt vs. one year's pay
Out-earn a HS grad
81%
Solid value

A reasonable return: earnings comfortably clear the debt over a few years for most students who finish.

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
$68,293
Men
$72,299

Men out-earn women by $4,006 (6%) 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
84°F
Winter low
48°F
Annual rain
14.2″

Average temperature

HighLow
40°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND

Average precipitation (inches)

0.01.83.6JFMAMJJASOND

NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Los Angeles Dwtn Usc Campus, CA US station (0.5 mi from campus).

What Southern California Institute of Architecture 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 Southern California Institute of Architecture

Schools with a comparable profile — size, selectivity, cost, and graduate outcomes. Compare Southern California Institute of Architecture side by side →

Colleges near Southern California Institute of Architecture

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.