by our College Data Analytics TeamThe majority of students are not billed the full sticker price of a school. Rather, they are offered a financial aid plan that includes a mix of loans, grants, scholarships, and possibly work-study opportunities. The sum total of attendance at California Institute of the Arts can sound overpowering, but remember that the majority of students get some type of financial assistance.
What financial aid options can CalArts offer, and what will you qualify for? Keep reading for more information. Read on to learn what amount of financial assistance will be accessible to you.
Your financial aid package, which may contain grants and scholarships, will be determined on your financial need. Continue reading to find information to help you understand just how much assistance you can expect to receive from California Institute of the Arts.
Financial assistance, available as scholarships, loans, and work-study, is a way schools lower the price of attendance so many students can enroll. Note that some aid is more valuable than the rest, and individual awards are far from uniform.
Among first-time, full-time freshmen at California Institute of the Arts, 95% of the incoming full-time class was awarded financial aid (about 167 new students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 95% | $21,416 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 94% | $19,687 |
| Federal Pell grants | 20% | $6,076 |
| State/local grants | 6% | $7,348 |
| Federal student loans | 38% | $5,073 |
Unlike loans, grants and scholarships are gift aid that does not need to be paid back, making them the most desirable form of assistance. Across the undergraduate body at CalArts, roughly 91% of the undergraduate population received grant aid that averaged $28,420 (across approximately 838 recipients).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 91% | $28,420 |
| Federal Pell grants | 24% | $5,709 |
| Federal student loans | 36% | $6,716 |
For students living on campus and receiving title-IV aid, grants averaged $31,480.
The figures below show the average net price — cost after all grant and scholarship aid — broken out by family income.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $34,895 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $36,273 |
| Over $75,000 | $56,851 |
Each figure is the net price after grants and scholarships, not the published sticker price.
The net price strips out grant and scholarship aid from the sticker price to show roughly what families really pay.
| Cohort | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| On-campus title-IV students | $46,080 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $49,685 |
To project your own net price, use CalArts’s official net price calculator: files.calarts.edu/docs/financial-aid/calarts-net-price-calculator/.
Graduating students at CalArts carry a median federal student debt of $16,994 of cumulative federal debt.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $16,994 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $25,000 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $265.04/mo |
At a typical 10-year repayment schedule, the median graduate would pay about the monthly figure above.
Percentiles reveal the spread — half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles. The four reference points below map the debt distribution at CalArts.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $7,500 |
| 25th percentile | $16,398 |
| 75th percentile | $36,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $45,500 |
Median debt varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $20,000 |
| Middle income | $17,313 |
| High income | $14,000 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $20,000 |
| Continuing-generation students | $13,000 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $15,250 |
| Independent students | $25,000 |
These indicators are derived from the underlying debt data and summarize the overall picture at CalArts.
The Stafford program is the federal direct-loan vehicle most undergraduates use. These figures summarize annual Stafford program activity at CalArts:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 5691 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $205,318,572 |
GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance are the two federal aid programs targeted at military-affiliated students.
GI Bill volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 12 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $229,350 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $19,113 |
DoD Tuition Assistance activity
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| DoD Tuition Assistance recipients | 0 |
| Total DoD amount | $0 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.