Pacific Northwest College of Art is a private not-for-profit institution in Portland, Oregon enrolling 420 undergraduates. It accepts 75% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 29%, near the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #5,074 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 98%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
Pacific Northwest College of Art ranks #5,074 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 98%.
In its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.
According to College Factual’s 2027 analysis, PNCA is ranked #5,074 out of 5,159 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality.
Within the state, PNCA holds the #59 spot on the Best Colleges in Oregon ranking.
See all of the rankings for Pacific Northwest College of Art.
The acceptance rate at Pacific Northwest College of Art is 75%. That’s higher than the rate at many schools, but still low enough to be considered somewhat selective. If you want to get in, you’ll need good grades and to be able to show that PNCA is a good fit for you.
Learn more about Pacific Northwest College of Art admissions.
At PNCA, the student to faculty ratio is an excellent 9 to 1. That’s much better than the national average of 15 to 1. This indicates that many classes will probably be small, and students will have ample opportunities to work closely with their professors and classmates.
In addition to the student to faculty ratio, some people look at what percentage of faculty members are full-time as a sign of how much time professors will be able to spend with their students. This is because part-time teachers may not be on campus as much as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at Pacific Northwest College of Art is 19%. This is lower than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate tells us what percentage of first-year, full-time students choose to continue on to their sophomore year at a particular school. The rate at Pacific Northwest College of Art is 69%, which is about average when compared to the national rate of 68%.
The on-time graduation rate is the percent of first-time, full-time students who get their bachelor’s degree within four years. At PNCA this rate is 29%, which is about average when compared to the national rate of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Pacific Northwest College of Art.
The current enrollment includes 420 undergraduates at PNCA.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Pacific Northwest College of Art.
The overall average net price of PNCA is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $28,219 | $30,517 | $30,916 | $36,998 | $44,522 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of PNCA, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At PNCA, approximately 52% of students took out student loans averaging $6,684 a year. That adds up to $26,736 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 8.2%. Although this is lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, you’ll still want to keep this in mind when taking out student loans. Get more details about paying for Pacific Northwest College of Art.
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Pacific Northwest College of Art make about $34,883 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. This is about 29% less than the average pay for college graduates overall. However, graduates with your major may make more.
See which majors at Pacific Northwest College of Art make the most money.
Pacific Northwest College of Art is an private not-for-profit institution found in Portland, Oregon. Portland is a great location for students who prefer city over country life. Get more details about the location of Pacific Northwest College of Art.
Contact details for Pacific Northwest College of Art are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 511 NW Broadway, Portland, OR 97209-3404 |
| Phone: | 5032264391 |
| Website: | pnca.edu |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/PNCA.PORTLAND |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/pnca |
In the latest year of available data, students from 4 majors graduated from Pacific Northwest College of Art. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 106 | NA |
| Fine & Studio Arts | 38 | $25,083 |
| Design & Applied Arts | 34 | $20,535 |
| General Visual & Performing Arts | 20 | NA |
| Writing Studies | 6 | NA |
| Cultural Studies & Analysis | 6 | NA |
| Film, Video & Photographic Arts | 2 | NA |
Want to see how other colleges compare to PNCA? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free tool for head-to-head college comparisons.
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
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