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Maryland Institute College of Art

MD · Private nonprofit · Large city · 3,127 applicants 2023

77% admit rate SAT 915–1220 $43K–$77K/yr — aid decides
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Parent/student verdict

Accessible

Accessible for most applicants. Expect a high net price across most income brackets.

Best for

  • Solid academic profiles — the admitted-student bands above are within reach for strong students
  • Students focused on Visual & Performing Arts (the school's signature program)
  • Families wanting a small liberal-arts experience

The reality

  • You'd be near the bottom of their admitted class if: SAT below 915, or ACT below 26, or unweighted GPA below ~3.50 (test bands are the school's own; the GPA floor is our estimate, not a published figure)
  • High cost — full price is ~$76,860/yr without aid, and aid-receiving families still average ~$42,729/yr — verify the major's earnings track record before committing

Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price with aid and at full price, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.

What are your child's odds here?

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Weighted is the higher GPA, with honors/AP credit in it — pick whichever your school reports. PSAT scores work in the SAT box.

Institutional snapshot

What kind of college is this?

Carnegie classification
Associate's: High Transfer-High Trad
Undergraduates
1,189
1,000 - 4,999 including graduate students
TuitionThe published full price before any aid. Families who don't qualify for need-based aid at a given college pay this, minus any merit scholarships — whether you qualify depends on the college's price and policies, not on any fixed income line.
$56,800
flat rate (no in/out-of-state split) · 2023–24 federal figure
Admit rateThe share of applicants a college accepts. Useful context, but your student's odds depend on their own grades and scores, not the average.
77.3%
Accessible
SAT middle 50%The middle half of enrolled students scored in this range — a quarter scored BELOW the low end and still got in, and a quarter scored above the high end. Above the top number is a genuine strength; below the bottom isn't automatic rejection.
915–1220
EBRW + Math composite
ACT middle 50%The middle half of enrolled students scored in this range — a quarter scored BELOW the low end and still got in, and a quarter scored above the high end. Above the top number is a genuine strength; below the bottom isn't automatic rejection.
26–30
composite
Test policyApplicants choose whether to send SAT/ACT scores. At many such colleges, students who submit strong scores are still admitted at higher rates.
Test-optional
2023
10-yr earningsMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$45,212
median, after entry

Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.

Outcomes & cost

What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.

Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).

Earnings, 6 yrs after entry
$33,451
Earnings, 10 yrs after entryMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$45,212
Graduate within 6 yrsThe share of students who start here and finish a bachelor's within six years — the standard federal measure, and the one College Scorecard publishes. It is not a four-year rate. Read it as the odds of finishing at all: nationally about a third of students who start never do, and an unfinished degree is the most expensive outcome in this decision.
72%
Median debt (completers)The federal-loan balance of the typical graduating borrower. Families who pay cash aren't counted, so read it as "among those who borrowed."
$26,500

The real cost

What Maryland Institute College of Art actually costs

If you qualify for need aidGrant money based on your family's finances (via FAFSA and the college's own forms), not your student's stats.
$42,729/yr
average among aid-receiving families, all incomes — your number depends on your finances
If you don't
$76,860/yr
the full published price

Which side your family lands on isn't set by any national income line — it's set by Maryland Institute College of Art's own aid decision: the gap between its price and your family's finances.

Get your family's number — Maryland Institute College of Art's Net Price Calculator ↗ 10–15 minutes; have a tax return handy. It's still an estimate — but it's this college's own, built from your family's numbers, not anyone's average.
Start your Family Decision Report →

Your odds + estimated cost across your whole college list, side by side.

The payoffTen years of typical graduate pay minus four years of cost — how many dollars ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten. Check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you; median pay reflects who a college admits and what they study as much as the college itself., both ways

+$145K ahead at full price +$281K with aid
Full price, no aidThe all-in yearly price — tuition, housing, food, books, fees — before any aid. This is the real "full price," not just the tuition line. (4 yrs)
$307,440
~$76,860/yr all-in
Aid recipients pay (4 yrs)
$170,916
$42,729/yr average
10-yr earnings total
$452,120
$45,212/yr median, 10 yrs out
Years to recoup the cost
6.8 yrs
at full price (3.8 with aid), at the median earnings rate

Source: College Scorecard (average net price among Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates who received aid) and each college's published cost of attendance. We don't show the federal net-price-by-income brackets: their categories were fixed in 2008 and never adjusted, and none of the averages is your family's own number — the full story. Payoff = (10-yr median earnings × 10) − (4 years of cost), in dollars — how far ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten; medians travel with the students a college admits and the majors they choose as much as with the college itself. Full price is the published cost of attendance; earnings are 10 years after enrollment, all majors combined.

What students study here

Most popular majors at Maryland Institute College of Art

Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what Maryland Institute College of Art actually graduates — not just what it markets.

1. Visual & Performing Arts
235 degrees · 68.5%
Highly variable. Steady-pay roles cluster in design, illustration, production. Performance careers have very wide income distributions.
2. Communication, Journalism, & Related
65 degrees · 19.0%
Media, PR, marketing communications. Salary spread is wide.
3. Communications Technologies
41 degrees · 12.0%
Broadcast tech, sound engineering, AV production.
4. Architecture
2 degrees · 0.6%
Path to becoming a licensed architect requires graduate degree + experience.

What those majors earn here

Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — Maryland Institute College of Art's own graduates, not national averages.

Major (CIP) Credential Cohort 1-yr earnings 4-yr earnings
Design and Applied Arts. Bachelor's Degree 104 $27,246 $45,436
Film/Video and Photographic Arts. Bachelor's Degree 22 $17,500 $43,227
Fine and Studio Arts. Bachelor's Degree 126 $21,138 $34,283

Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only) · College Scorecard program-level outcomes (PP-FOS). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →

Student body & economic mobility

Who attends here — and what the campus adds.

Opportunity Insights data. It measures two things at once: how many lower-income students a college enrols, and how many of them reach the top earnings quintile later. A high rate says the college does both — it does not establish that the campus caused the earnings, because the students it admits differ from the students it doesn't. Read it as a signal about access and destination, not as proof of value added.

Top-1% access
2.6%
from top-1% households
Mobility rateThe share of ALL students who arrived from the bottom 20% of family incomes AND reached the top 20% themselves by their early 30s — access and lift in one number, and a sign the campus itself adds earnings power.
1.5%
bottom 20% → top 20% by age 32
Upward rate
28.4%
of lower-income students who reach the top 20%
Pell recipientsStudents receiving federal Pell grants, which go to lower- and middle-income families — the standard shorthand for a college's economic mix.
23%
on federal need grants — context for these numbers

Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →

Alternatives to Maryland Institute College of Art

Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.

Better merit-aid options
These similar-selectivity schools publish merit scholarships your family can plan around — your kid’s stats could unlock real scholarship dollars.
Texas Tech University
TX · Public
30 stats-based + 1 competitive scholarships
Mississippi State University
MS · Public
18 stats-based + 1 competitive scholarships
University of Alabama at Birmingham
AL · Public
17 stats-based + 2 competitive scholarships
Lower full price
Similar selectivity, but a meaningfully lower full sticker price — the comparison that matters most for families who won't qualify for much need-based aid.
United States Merchant Marine Academy
NY · Public
$9,168/yr full price (in-state) · $67,692 less before aid for NY residents
Indiana University-Kokomo
IN · Public
$11,837/yr full price (in-state) · $65,023 less before aid for IN residents
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College
GA · Public
$13,956/yr full price (in-state) · $62,904 less before aid for GA residents
Safer in-state options
Same state and similar selectivity, but with a more forgiving admit rate — useful safety / match anchors.
Salisbury University
MD · Public
89% admit rate (vs 77% here)
More students move up here
Per Opportunity Insights, a larger share of these campuses' lower-income students reach the top earnings quintile than at Maryland Institute College of Art. That reflects who they admit as well as what they do, so read it as a destination signal rather than proof of value added.
CUNY Lehman College
NY · Public
10.2% mobility rate (vs 1.5% here)
CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice
NY · Public
9.7% mobility rate (vs 1.5% here)
MCPHS University
MA · Private nonprofit
9.3% mobility rate (vs 1.5% here)

Or compare any college side-by-side

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At a glance

JSON · Using this page with an AI assistant

Maryland Institute College of Art is a private nonprofit four-year college in MD. It admitted 77% of applicants (3,127 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.

Middle 50% of admitted students: SAT 915–1220, ACT 26–30.

Cost: about $42,729 a year on average with aid, $76,860 a year at full price.

Median earnings ten years after entry: $45,212 a year. Payoff, meaning ten years of that pay minus four years of cost: $281,204 ahead with aid, $144,680 ahead at full price.

Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Design and Applied Arts ($45,436); Film/Video and Photographic Arts ($43,227); Fine and Studio Arts ($34,283).

Economic mobility (Opportunity Insights): 5% of students came from families in the bottom fifth of income, and 28% of those reached the top fifth as adults.

Machine-readable version of this page: https://highschoolreach.com/colleges/maryland-institute-college-of-art.json

By major: Art (Studio)Design (graphic, interior, industrial)Film and Television
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What families ask next

Can my kid get in? Score odds calculator → See how a higher SAT or ACT changes admit odds — college by college. What will it cost — and pay back? Earnings by major → What graduates actually earn, program by program. What do we do next? Free Family Decision Report Reach / Match / Likely for every college on their list, plus the real cost. Start with a 10-second odds check — no email needed. Check odds →