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Is Art Center College of Design worth it?
A first pass affordability and outcome read for Art Center College of Design, using national average inputs. Run your own numbers for a personalized score.
Worth-It Score
Stretch
Art Center College of Design sits in the stretch band for a typical family. The long-run earnings picture at $75,975 helps, but median debt of $27,651 plus yearly net price of $48,389 creates a tighter path. For context, Art Center College of Design's net price sits about 133% above the typical 4-year, private nonprofit school and near the top of its sector range. It can work, but the financing plan has to be deliberate.
Is the price fair?
Compared to 1237 similar 4-year, private nonprofit schools
This school
$53,306
/yrAverage school like this
$22,837
/yrThis significantly impacts your Worth-It Score
You'd pay about $30,469 more per year than the typical student at a similar school. Over 4 years that's roughly $122,000 in extra cost.
Score breakdown
The public version of the score weighs affordability, after graduation outcomes, and repayment burden.
Affordability
40% weight
The yearly net price is doing real work against the score and raises the financing burden quickly.
Outcome
40% weight
The outcome data is workable, but not so strong that it erases financing risk.
Repayment
20% weight
Median debt stays in a more comfortable repayment range for a typical graduate.
The numbers behind the score
Median net price per year
$48,389
Median earnings 10 years out
$75,975
Median debt at graduation
$27,651
Graduation rate
80%
At Art Center College of Design, a typical graduate carries about $27,651 in student debt and earns roughly $75,975 ten years after enrolling. On a standard 10-year repayment plan, that works out to about $314 per month, or 5% of pre-tax income. That sits inside a borrower comfort range for many graduates.
How earnings compare to a high school diploma
Graduates earn $43,499 more than the typical working high school graduate in California ($32,476) ten years after entering this school. A federal rule finalized in July 2026 ties each undergraduate program's federal loan eligibility to a comparison like this one, with the first calculations expected in 2027.
The national figure is $31,269. The Department of Education uses it instead of the state figure when fewer than half of a school's students come from its state.
73% of former students here earned more than the typical high school graduate ten years after entry, by College Scorecard's own measure.
Context, not a federal determination. The benchmarks are the Department of Education's published thresholds (2024 notice, based on 2022 Census data); thresholds under the 2026 rule have not been released yet. The official test looks at each program's graduates four years after completion; our figure is College Scorecard's median for the whole school, ten years after entry. How this works
What this means for your family
Art Center College of Design is a private nonprofit four year school in Pasadena, CA. Private pricing can swing more dramatically based on aid, so your personalized score matters more here than the national average view alone.
Similar schools worth comparing
These schools share a similar sector, geography, or price range.
Private nonprofit 4-year
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
San Francisco, CA
Worth-It Score: 32/100
Median net price: $48,678
Private nonprofit 4-year
Pepperdine
Malibu, CA
Worth-It Score: 65/100
Median net price: $48,065
Private nonprofit 4-year
California Institute of the Arts
Valencia, CA
Worth-It Score: 31/100
Median net price: $49,996
Private nonprofit 4-year
Chapman
Orange, CA
Worth-It Score: 61/100
Median net price: $46,708
Private nonprofit 4-year
Laguna College of Art and Design
Laguna Beach, CA
Worth-It Score: 27/100
Median net price: $50,349
Common questions about Art Center College of Design
The median net price at Art Center College of Design is $48,389 per year. That is the average yearly price after typical grant aid for students in the public federal data, not the published sticker price.
Get your personalized Worth-It score
National averages are a starting point. Plug in your actual aid offer, intended major, and family situation to get a score that reflects your specific picture.
Looking at private colleges options in California? See the most affordable private colleges in California →
The Worth-It Score weighs affordability (40%), after graduation outcomes (40%), and repayment burden (20%). Underlying data points come from publicly available federal higher education reporting. See full methodology →
What families actually paid
The published price is rarely what anyone pays. Pick a household income range to see what students at Art Center College of Design in that range paid on average, after grants and scholarships.
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All students who received aid
$48,389a year, on average
Average for first-time, full-time students who received federal financial aid, 2024-25. It does not include transfer or part-time students, and it is an average rather than a quote — what you pay depends on your own circumstances and the aid this school offers you. Source: U.S. Department of Education, IPEDS.
Now work out how to pay for it, cheapest money first.
A Worth-It Score tells you whether the price is justified. The 2026-27 funding guide covers the borrowing order, what changed on July 1, 2026, and the current limits.
Open the 2026-27 funding guide →