College · Private for-profit · Tacoma, WA · City
Northwest College of Art & Design
Tacoma, WA
Admit rate66%
6-yr median pay$28k
Net price / yr$16k
Undergrad size139
§ I · The real read
What it's actually like.
The bet
Net price of $16k/yr for a shot at a $28k first-5-year salary. Math out whether that works for you — it does for some people, not for others.
Getting in
Admit rate of 66% means this is workable if your grades and essays are solid.
If you get in
139 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 $30k/yr. After need-based aid, the average student pays $16k/yr. Merit aid varies. Run your EFC calculator before you rule anything out.
Sticker · 4 yrs$120k
Before any aid.
Net · 4 yrs$66k
What the average student pays.
Typical aid$54k
Difference over 4 years — higher for lower-income households.
Payback2.4x
4-yr net price ÷ first-5-year salary. Lower is better.
Where the money goes · annual sticker.
- Tuition · in-state
- $18.1k
- Books & supplies
- $800
How students pay for it.
Pell grants51%
Share of undergrads on federal Pell grants.
Federal loans48%
Share taking out federal student loans.
Median debt · grads$31k
What the median student owes at graduation. Non-completers: $14k.
3-yr default0%
Low — grads tend to pay on time.
§ III · Outcomes
Do people finish? Do they land?
1-yr retention77%
Watch this number.
Graduation · 6 yr58%
A meaningful chunk do not finish — ask why.
6-yr median pay$28k
Cross-major. Your major's number can be very different.
10-yr median pay$31k
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
- Private for-profit
- Undergrad size
- 139
- Location
- Tacoma, WA
- Region
- Far West (AK, CA, HI, NV, OR, WA)
- Carnegie class
- Associate's Colleges: Mixed Transfer/Career · High Nontraditional
- Size & setting
- Four-year · very small · primarily nonresidential
- Undergrad program
- Four-year · full-time, inclusive, higher transfer-in
- Accreditor
- Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges
- Also known as
- NCAD
§ · Who studies here
The student body at a glance.
- White58%
- Hispanic19%
- Black10%
- American Indian / Alaska Native6%
- Asian4%
- Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander1%
- Unknown1%
Part-time4%
Mostly a full-time student body.
Median family income$50k
Of enrolled students' households — useful for aid context.
§ V · Majors offered here · 1
What you can study.