Northwest College of Art & Design

Admission requirements

Test-blind — scores not considered

Source: IPEDS Admissions survey (2022) via Urban Institute. Covers formal factors only — it does not reflect essays, extracurriculars, or other holistic criteria.

Outcomes & value

Median earnings (10 yr)

$31,167

Value (earnings ÷ net price)

1.9×

Median debt at graduation

$30,750

Graduation rate

58%

First-year retention

77%

Reducing loan balance (3 yr)

37%

Pell (lower-income) share

52%

Earnings = median of students working ~10 years after entry; debt = median of graduates. Value divides 10-yr earnings by one year’s net price — read it as earnings per dollar of annual cost, not a full lifetime ROI; it favors lower-cost schools. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. Figures lag ~2 years and reflect all students, not your intended major.

Financial health

U.S. Dept. of Education Financial Responsibility Composite Score (FY2022-23). Scale −1.0 to 3.0; ≥1.5 meets the standard. Reported for private nonprofit & for-profit institutions only — public universities are state-backed and not scored, so this is a stability signal, not a ranking.

Top-earning majors

Median earnings by field of study (highest credential), ~2 years after completion.

• Design and Applied Arts$23,579

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (field-of-study earnings). Figures cover graduates who received federal aid and lag ~2 years; not all programs report data.

Campus safety

On-campus violent crimes (2024)

0

Per 1,000 students

0.00

On-campus criminal offenses classed as violent (murder/non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, aggravated assault) for the most recent reported year. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education Campus Safety and Security (Clery Act). Counts reflect what’s reported to the school, and urban campuses often report more partly due to non-student incidents nearby — read alongside campus size and setting, not as a standalone safety verdict.

Climate

Pleasant days / yr

117

Summer high

76°F

Winter low

35°F

Annual rain

48.5"

Annual snow

14.5"

Natural-hazard risk

Relatively High

Pleasant days counts days per year with a mean temperature of 55–75°F, a high at or below 90°F, a low at or above 45°F, and little precipitation — a transparent comfort measure, not a weighting we invented. Computed from Open-Meteo ERA5 daily history (2019–2023). Natural-hazard risk is the county’s composite rating from the FEMA National Risk Index.