College · Private nonprofit · Detroit, MI · City
College for Creative Studies
Detroit, MI
Admit rate92%
6-yr median pay$34k
Net price / yr$35k
Undergrad size1,230
§ I · The real read
What it's actually like.
The bet
Net price of $35k/yr for a shot at a $34k first-5-year salary. Math out whether that works for you — it does for some people, not for others.
Getting in
Admit rate of 92% means this is workable if your grades and essays are solid.
If you get in
1,230 undergrads. Tiny. Every professor will know your name.
Where you live
City campus — public transit, off-campus food, weekends happen nearby.
§ II · Cost & aid
Sticker vs. real.
Sticker cost of attendance is $66k/yr. After need-based aid, the average student pays $35k/yr. Merit aid varies. Run your EFC calculator before you rule anything out.
Sticker · 4 yrs$264k
Before any aid.
Net · 4 yrs$138k
What the average student pays.
Typical aid$126k
Difference over 4 years — higher for lower-income households.
Payback4.1x
4-yr net price ÷ first-5-year salary. Lower is better.
Where the money goes · annual sticker.
- Tuition · in-state
- $53.4k
- Room & board
- $15.3k
- Books & supplies
- $2,144
How students pay for it.
Pell grants30%
Share of undergrads on federal Pell grants.
Federal loans52%
Share taking out federal student loans.
Median debt · grads$26k
What the median student owes at graduation. Non-completers: $8k.
3-yr default0%
Low — grads tend to pay on time.
§ III · Outcomes
Do people finish? Do they land?
1-yr retention79%
Watch this number.
Graduation · 6 yr71%
Majority finish.
6-yr median pay$34k
Cross-major. Your major's number can be very different.
10-yr median pay$45k
Ten years out — where grads tend to land career-wise.
Transfer out14%
Share of full-time students who transfer to another school.
§ IV · Campus & identity
Setting, size, and who this school is.
- Setting
- City
- Control
- Private nonprofit
- Undergrad size
- 1,230
- Location
- Detroit, MI
- Region
- Great Lakes (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI)
- Carnegie class
- Associate's Colleges: Mixed Transfer/Career · High Nontraditional
- Size & setting
- Four-year · small · primarily residential
- Undergrad program
- Four-year · full-time, selective, higher transfer-in
- Accreditor
- Higher Learning Commission
- Also known as
- CCS
§ · Who studies here
The student body at a glance.
- White50%
- Black13%
- Unknown12%
- International7%
- Hispanic6%
- Two or more races5%
- Asian5%
- American Indian / Alaska Native1%
First-gen students23%
Share whose parents didn't complete college.
Part-time11%
Mixed full-time and part-time.
Median family income$62k
Of enrolled students' households — useful for aid context.
§ V · Majors offered here · 8
What you can study.