Northwest College of Art & Design

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Northwest College of Art & Design

Northwest College of Art & Design operates as a private for-profit institution located in Tacoma, Washington (city: midsize), with a total reported enrollment of 139 students of which 171 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. Northwest College of Art & Design is categorized as “30” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 66.0%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $16,418, with published in-state tuition of $18,100 and a Pell grant recipient share of 50.7%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $30,750, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 47.9%, and the first-year retention rate is 76.8%. Graduates earn a median of $31,167 ten years after enrolling, compared with $27,505 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 5900.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 46.3% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.