College · Public · Boston, MA · City
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Boston, MA
Admit rate76%
6-yr median pay$27k
Net price / yr$24k
Undergrad size1,831
§ I · The real read
What it's actually like.
The bet
Net price of $24k/yr for a shot at a $27k first-5-year salary. Math out whether that works for you — it does for some people, not for others.
Getting in
Admit rate of 76% means this is workable if your grades and essays are solid.
If you get in
1,831 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 $34k/yr. After need-based aid, the average student pays $24k/yr. Merit aid varies. Run your EFC calculator before you rule anything out.
Sticker · 4 yrs$137k
Before any aid.
Net · 4 yrs$96k
What the average student pays.
Typical aid$41k
Difference over 4 years — higher for lower-income households.
Payback3.6x
4-yr net price ÷ first-5-year salary. Lower is better.
Where the money goes · annual sticker.
- Tuition · in-state
- $15.4k
- Tuition · out-of-state
- $43.4k
- Room & board
- $19.4k
- Books & supplies
- $2,000
How students pay for it.
Pell grants30%
Share of undergrads on federal Pell grants.
Federal loans51%
Share taking out federal student loans.
Median debt · grads$26k
What the median student owes at graduation. Non-completers: $10k.
3-yr default0%
Low — grads tend to pay on time.
§ III · Outcomes
Do people finish? Do they land?
Graduation · 6 yr69%
Majority finish.
6-yr median pay$27k
Cross-major. Your major's number can be very different.
10-yr median pay$44k
Ten years out — where grads tend to land career-wise.
Transfer out0%
Share of full-time students who transfer to another school.
§ IV · Campus & identity
Setting, size, and who this school is.
- Setting
- City
- Control
- Public
- Undergrad size
- 1,831
- Location
- Boston, MA
- Region
- New England (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT)
- Carnegie class
- Associate's Colleges: Mixed Transfer/Career · High Nontraditional
- Size & setting
- Four-year · small · highly residential
- Undergrad program
- Four-year · full-time, selective, higher transfer-in
- Accreditor
- New England Commission on Higher Education
§ · Who studies here
The student body at a glance.
- White55%
- Hispanic16%
- Unknown11%
- Asian6%
- Two or more races5%
- Black4%
- International3%
First-gen students23%
Share whose parents didn't complete college.
Part-time8%
Mostly a full-time student body.
Median family income$68k
Of enrolled students' households — useful for aid context.
§ V · Majors offered here · 8
What you can study.