10-yr median earnings
$46,920
Federal aid recipients only
Private For-Profit · San Diego, California
Design Institute of San Diego
Design Institute of San Diego is a private for-profit institution in San Diego, California. as a private for-profit, published Scorecard outcomes are Title-IV-recipient medians — program mix and repayment risk deserve a closer look than a single headline number.
- $44,010
- Avg net price / yr
- $46,920
- 10-yr median earnings
- 100.0%
- Acceptance rate
The verdict
Design Institute of San Diego pairs above-median former-student earnings with open admission.
According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.
- Top 35%
- former-student earnings, US
- 100.0%
- acceptance rate
- +0%
- earnings, 6→10 yrs
City: Large
Carnegie: Special Focus (4yr)
Institution data retrieved July 2026; field-of-study data retrieved March 2026.
How to read this Design Institute of San Diego profile
Figures above come from IPEDS institution records published through the College Scorecard (retrieved July 2026 for institution fields; March 2026 for field-of-study). Peer groups and cost cohorts follow IPEDS ownership sector, Carnegie class ("Special Focus Four-Year: Arts, Music & Design Schools"), and locale, not an editorial shortlist.
Average net price subtracts grant and scholarship aid from cost of attendance for full-time, first-time undergraduate Title IV recipients. It is a defined cohort average, not a personalized price; income-band fields add context but do not replace the school's current net-price calculator.
Earnings use Treasury-linked records for federally aided former students who were working and not enrolled in the measurement year (completers and noncompleters). IPEDS completion and retention use separate first-time, full-time cohorts, so those denominators are not the earnings cohort. Read cost, completion, and earnings as distinct historical measures, not a causal verdict or individual forecast.
College Value Score
F
College Value Score
26/100
Design Institute of San Diego
A 6-metric composite of earnings, cost, and completion outcomes benchmarked against every reporting US college, not a ranking of teaching quality, campus life, or fit for any individual student. See the full methodology.
Earnings C+
$46,920
10-year median former-student earnings
Net Price F
$44,010
Average annual cost after grants and aid
Completion Rate N/A
N/A
Completion within 150% of normal time
Debt F
$36,844
Median federal debt at graduation
Loan Repayment N/A
N/A
Borrowers repaying loans within 3 years
Retention N/A
N/A
First-year students returning for year two
Each axis is the percentile score shown in the breakdown at left; the shape shows this school's overall profile at a glance.
Avg net price
$44,010
After grants and scholarships
150%-time completion
Not reported
Full-time, first-time cohort
College ROI Quadrant - Design Institute of San Diego vs peers
Each dot is a college plotted by 10-year median earnings (x-axis) vs average net price (y-axis), colored by completion within 150% of normal time. Bottom-right = high earnings/lower price; top-left = lower earnings/higher price.
How Design Institute of San Diego ranks nationally
Where this school's former-student earnings fall within the full national distribution of every US college that reports to the College Scorecard, not just its peer set.
Design Institute of San Diego: former-student earnings vs. every US college
10-year median earnings, College Scorecard
$46,920 Top 35% higher than 65% of 5,103 US colleges
Each bar is a $20K-wide band; taller bars hold more US colleges. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard · Mar–Jul 2026 retrievals
| Metric | Design Institute of San Diego | National rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-yr median earnings | $46,920 | #1762 of 5103 | 65th |
| Average net price | $44,010 | #4941 of 5020 | 2nd (lower is better) |
| Undergraduate enrollment | 77 | #4588 of 5462 | 16th |
National ranks count every operating US college reporting each metric to the College Scorecard, separate from the earnings histogram above.
Quick Facts
77
Undergraduate enrollment
100.0%
Acceptance rate
-
SAT average
-
150%-time completion
$46,920
10-yr median earnings
0.0%
First-year retention
How Design Institute of San Diego ranks in California
State rank among 493 reporting California colleges with College Scorecard data, a separate lens from the national distribution above.
| Metric | Design Institute of San Diego | State rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-yr median earnings | $46,920 | #187 of 493 | 62nd |
| Average net price | $44,010 | #468 of 495 | 5th (lower is better) |
| Undergraduate enrollment | 77 | #474 of 553 | 14th |
Highest former-student earnings in California
| # | School | 10-yr earnings | Net price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samuel Merritt University | $143,238 | - |
| 2 | Harvey Mudd College | $138,687 | $35,924 |
| 3 | California Institute of Technology | $128,566 | $16,075 |
| 4 | Stanford University | $124,080 | $13,807 |
| 5 | Los Angeles County College of Nursing and Allied Health | $115,318 | - |
| 6 | Gnomon | $114,785 | $51,949 |
| 7 | Santa Clara University | $109,183 | $50,062 |
| 8 | Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University | $109,183 | - |
| 9 | Touro University California | $104,805 | - |
| 10 | Claremont McKenna College | $104,736 | $28,849 |
| 11 | West Coast University-Anaheim-Orange County | $102,672 | $32,879 |
| 12 | West Coast University-Ontario | $102,672 | $49,590 |
| 187 | Design Institute of San DiegoThis school | $46,920 | $44,010 |
Admissions
| Admission Rate | 100.0% |
Costs & Financial Aid
Tuition & Net Price
| In-State Tuition | $29,300 |
| Out-of-State Tuition | $29,300 |
| Average Net Price | $44,010 |
Net Price by Family Income
| $48,001 – $75,000 | $44,010 |
51.1%
Pell Grant Rate
63.0%
Federal Loan Rate
$36,844
Median Debt
$391/mo
Monthly Payment
What students pay at Design Institute of San Diego rose +34.5% since 2013
Average net price for the reported Title IV-recipient cohort went from $23,265 in 2013 to $31,293 in 2023, a rise of $8,028 in nominal dollars. Across the 4,315 colleges measured over the same 2013–2023 span, the median change was +14.6%.
11 reported years. Nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation.
2013 · $23,2652023 · $31,293
Over the same years, enrollment went -49.2% (181 → 92 students).
Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, per-year fields (2013–2023). Net price is the average cost after grant and scholarship aid for federally-aided undergraduates.
Student Demographics
Race & ethnicity
White 45.5%
African American 6.5%
Hispanic or Latino 18.2%
Asian 7.8%
Pacific Islander 1.3%
Two or More Ethnicities 1.3%
International 3.9%
Student body at a glance
Outcomes
0.0%
Retention Rate
$46,916
Median Earnings (6yr)
57.4%
Earning Over $25K
Outcomes & debt snapshot
| Measure | Cohort / horizon | Value |
|---|---|---|
| First-year retention | First-time, full-time freshmen | 0.0% |
| Median earnings | 6 years after entry | $46,916 |
| Median earnings | 10 years after entry | $46,920 |
| Share earning over $25,000 | Working, not enrolled | 57.4% |
| Median federal student debt | At completion | $36,844 |
| Estimated monthly payment | Standard 10-year plan | $391/mo |
Programs & Earnings
| Program | Credential | Completers | Median Earnings | Median Debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Design and Applied Arts | Bachelor's | 26 | - | $44,191 |
Nearby Schools
University of California-San Diego
La Jolla, CA
34,948 students
San Diego Miramar College
San Diego, CA
11,271 students
San Diego Mesa College
San Diego, CA
16,098 students
The University of Arizona Global Campus
Chandler, AZ
20,152 students
Alliant International University-San Diego
San Diego, CA
391 students
Explore Data-Matched Colleges
Scorecard-derived matches among reporting colleges — not school marketing or paid placement lists.
Similar Enrollment and Sector
Other Private For-Profit institutions closest in reported enrollment, preferring the same Carnegie classification.
Similar Reported Net Price
Other Private For-Profit institutions with the nearest reported average net price.
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$43,883 net price · $127 apart
DigiPen Institute of Technology
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$44,446 net price · $436 apart
Carrington College-Las Vegas
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$43,570 net price · $440 apart
Similar 2013–2023 Net-Price Trend
Same-sector institutions with the same direction and nearest fitted annual change; only series with R² of at least 0.40 qualify.
Advance Science International College
Miami Lakes, FL
+$1,345/year · $9/year apart
Christine Valmy International School of Esthetics & Cosmetology
Wayne, NJ
+$1,322/year · $14/year apart
Pacific College of Health and Science
New York, NY
+$1,319/year · $17/year apart
Miami Regional University
Miami Springs, FL
+$1,318/year · $19/year apart
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the acceptance rate at Design Institute of San Diego? ▼
Design Institute of San Diego is a private for-profit institution in San Diego, California. The acceptance rate is 100.0%. Undergraduate enrollment is 77 students.
How much do Design Institute of San Diego former students earn? ▼
Federally aided former students at Design Institute of San Diego who were working and not enrolled had median earnings of $46,920 ten years after entry; the cohort is not limited to graduates. Six years after entry, the corresponding median is $46,916.
How much does Design Institute of San Diego cost? ▼
The average net price at Design Institute of San Diego is $44,010. In-state tuition is $29,300 and out-of-state tuition is $29,300. Median student debt at graduation is $36,844.
Is Design Institute of San Diego worth the student debt? ▼
The median student debt at Design Institute of San Diego is $36,844, while former students earn a median of $46,920 ten years after enrollment. That debt represents about 79% of those annual earnings. Estimated monthly loan payment is $391.
Sources & methodology
Private for-profit profiles foreground Scorecard debt, repayment, and program-level earnings where reported. Marketing claims from the school are not inputs to this page.
Every figure is the Mar–Jul 2026 federal retrieval. For-profit program mixes can shift year to year — treat institution medians as a starting map, then check Field-of-Study rows below. Read the full methodology for how the data is sourced, computed, and verified.
- College Scorecard, U.S. Department of Education - former-student earnings, cost & completion (collegescorecard.ed.gov).
- IPEDS, National Center for Education Statistics - enrollment, admissions, Carnegie class & demographics (nces.ed.gov/ipeds).
- U.S. Treasury / IRS earnings linkage - median earnings 6 & 10 years after enrollment for federal-aid recipients (irs.gov).
- College Scorecard, Field of Study - program-level (credential) earnings & debt (collegescorecard.ed.gov).
- Federal Student Aid (Title IV / NSLDS) - U.S. Department of Education - net price, student debt & aid-recipient repayment outcomes (studentaid.gov).
Where to go next from Design Institute of San Diego
- Compare Design Institute of San Diego against schools with similar outcomes at a lower average net price.Find similar schools that cost less
- Browse every reporting college in California side by side.Browse California
- See how fields of study differ on former-student earnings and debt.Explore programs
For-profit Scorecard figures are Title-IV cohort history — verify current program costs, accreditation, and repayment outcomes with the school and official aid tools.
Every figure on PlainCollege is rendered directly from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard data, no number is typed in by an editor. Private for-profit profiles compile Scorecard debt/earnings and IPEDS operating fields from federal files — no editor-typed figures. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Review the public data changelog. Data current as of Mar–Jul 2026 retrievals.