by our College Data Analytics TeamA large number of students will never be charged the full, advertised sticker price of a school. Instead, they will be given a financial aid offer that will include a combination of scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study. The price tag of going to Columbus College of Art & Design can appear tremendous, but do not forget that almost all students obtain some kind of financial help.
Just what financial aid solutions can CCAD provide, and just what are you going to be eligible for? Keep reading for answers. Keep reading to see what amount of financial assistance could be accessible to you.
How much aid you qualify for depends largely on your family’s financial circumstances. Use the information below to understand how much financial assistance you may get from Columbus College of Art & Design.
Through a mix of loans, grants, work-study and scholarships, schools bring down the effective cost so more students can attend. Some kinds of aid are clearly preferable to others, and outcomes differ across students.
For freshmen starting at Columbus College of Art & Design, 100% of first-time, full-time freshmen received some form of financial aid approximately 188 first-years).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 100% | $23,000 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 96% | $20,448 |
| Federal Pell grants | 36% | $5,680 |
| State/local grants | 29% | $4,093 |
| Federal student loans | 70% | $5,416 |
Grants and scholarships are the most valuable form of aid because, unlike loans, they never have to be repaid. At CCAD, roughly 98% of undergraduate students received gift aid averaging $22,725 (across approximately 874 undergraduates).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 98% | $22,725 |
| Federal Pell grants | 39% | $5,552 |
| Federal student loans | 70% | $6,719 |
Title-IV recipients living on campus saw average grant aid of $25,004.
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 | $24,608 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $30,758 |
| Over $75,000 | $34,279 |
These figures reflect what title-IV aid recipients pay after grant and scholarship aid is applied.
Net price is the average annual cost after grants and scholarships are subtracted from the published cost of attendance — the figure closest to what a typical aid-receiving student actually pays.
| Cohort | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| On-campus title-IV students | $29,439 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $30,139 |
For an estimate tailored to your family circumstances, see CCAD’s net price calculator: ccad.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx.
The middle student in the debt distribution at CCAD owes $20,500 in federal loans.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $20,500 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $27,000 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $286.24/mo |
That monthly figure reflects the median graduate debt repaid on a standard 10-year federal schedule.
Looking only at the median can be misleading because it hides the spread. The four reference points below map the debt distribution at CCAD.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $9,745 |
| 75th percentile | $31,000 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $45,000 |
Debt outcomes are not uniform — they shift with income, first-generation status, and dependency.
Median Debt by Income Bracket
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $21,414 |
| Middle income | $20,500 |
| High income | $19,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Median Debt
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $20,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $20,475 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $20,490 |
| Independent students | $25,000 |
Federal data publishes pre-calculated indicators that summarize debt outcomes. CCAD.
Stafford loans are the federal government’s primary direct undergraduate lending program. The aggregate figures below show how active the program is at CCAD:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 5602 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $122,028,420 |
The GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance are the main federal aid routes for veterans and service members.
Post-9/11 GI Bill activity
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 15 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $225,378 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $15,025 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.