by our College Data Analytics TeamHere’s the full picture on paying for School of the Art Institute of Chicago, spanning what it costs to attend, projected costs over a degree, net price, debt outcomes, and aid equity.
Use the section links below to navigate this overview:
Published attendance costs at School of the Art Institute of Chicago comes to about $74,138.00 annually.
The three scenarios below move from the full sticker price, to the net price after average aid, to the net price low-income students typically pay.
| Tuition and fees | $56,420.00 |
| + Room, board & other expenses | $17,718.00 |
| Total cost | $74,138.00 |
| That is 126% above the national average net price. |
| Total cost | $74,138.00 |
| − Grants and scholarships | −$25,835.00 |
| Net price | $48,303.00 |
| That is 47% above the national average net price. |
| Total cost | $74,138.00 |
| − Grants and scholarships | −$31,827.00 |
| Net price | $42,311.00 |
| That is 29% above the national average net price. | |
| Explore each piece on tuition and fees and living costs. |
Costs have trended upward in recent years by around 2.0% annually, so the projections below total more than one year of attendance. The tables below project the cost forward across a full degree, side by side for a low-income student with aid, a typical student with average aid, and a student paying full sticker price with no aid. Loan math assumes ten-year repayment at 6.8% interest.
| Projected 4-year net costs | Low Income w/ Aid | w/ Average Aid | No Aid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual growth rate | 2.0% | 2.0% | 2.0% |
| Freshman year | $43,163.00 | $49,276.00 | $75,631.00 |
| Senior year | $45,825.00 | $52,314.00 | $80,295.00 |
| Total 4-year net price | $177,940.00 | $203,140.00 | $311,790.00 |
| 10-year loan interest @ 6.8% | $67,789.00 | $77,389.00 | $118,781.00 |
| Total monthly payment | $2,048.00 | $2,338.00 | $3,588.00 |
| Total amount paid | $245,729.00 | $280,529.00 | $430,571.00 |
| Projected 2-year net costs | Low Income w/ Aid | w/ Average Aid | No Aid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual growth rate | 2.0% | 2.0% | 2.0% |
| Freshman year | $43,163.00 | $49,276.00 | $75,631.00 |
| Senior year | $44,033.00 | $50,269.00 | $77,155.00 |
| Total 2-year net price | $87,196.00 | $99,545.00 | $152,786.00 |
| 10-year loan interest @ 6.8% | $33,219.00 | $37,923.00 | $58,206.00 |
| Total monthly payment | $1,003.00 | $1,146.00 | $1,758.00 |
| Total amount paid | $120,415.00 | $137,468.00 | $210,992.00 |
Read more in the net-price section.
The net price is the real out-of-pocket cost — what families pay after grant and scholarship aid is applied. For most prospective students, net price gives a more realistic estimate than sticker tuition.
| Average net price (on-campus) | $49,790.00 |
| Average net price (off-campus) | $49,822.00 |
Net price is far from uniform: lower-income families typically pay much less after aid. Here is the average net price for each family-income range:
| Family income | Average net price |
|---|---|
| Under $30,000 | $43,080.00 |
| $30,000 to $48,000 | $45,357.00 |
| $48,001 to $75,000 | $48,571.00 |
| $75,001 to $110,000 | $52,086.00 |
| Over $110,000 | $55,898.00 |
Use School of the Art Institute of Chicago Net Price Calculator, or contact the financial aid office.
Want to know how that aid is awarded? See the financial aid page.
The median amount borrowed by graduates of School of the Art Institute of Chicago stands at $19,000.00, which the Department of Education classifies as a Low ($10-20k) burden category.
The percentile breakdown reveals the full debt landscape:
| Percentile | Debt at graduation |
|---|---|
| 10th | $4,700.00 |
| 25th | $8,500.00 |
| Median (50th) | $19,000.00 |
| 75th | $29,750.00 |
| 90th | $37,000.00 |
The 10th-to-90th-percentile spread is one signal of how variable debt outcomes are across the student body.
Explore borrowing, repayment, and default in detail on the student-loan-debt breakdown.
Student debt at graduation is not evenly distributed across income levels. The breakdown below segments borrowers by family income at entry:
| Family income | Median debt at graduation |
|---|---|
| Low income | $21,363.00 |
| Middle income | $19,500.00 |
| High income | $18,456.00 |
Low-income graduates carry $2,907.00 more debt than their high-income peers.
First-generation students frequently graduate with different debt than continuing-generation students.
| Student group | Median debt at graduation |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $20,701.00 |
| Continuing-generation students | $18,495.00 |
First-gen borrowers at School of the Art Institute of Chicago take on $2,206.00 more median debt than continuing-generation peers.
Pell Grants are the largest source of federal need-based aid for undergrads. Comparing Pell recipients vs non-recipients shows how debt is distributed by need.
The Pell vs non-Pell debt gap at School of the Art Institute of Chicago is $7,800.00. This school carries a federal Pell-debt-inequity flag.
The federal default-rate classification for School of the Art Institute of Chicago is Low (<5%).
| Window | Cohort default rate |
|---|---|
| 2-year | 6.9% |
For a sense of scale, Stafford disbursements at School of the Art Institute of Chicago total $291,847,680.00 spread across 10,665 disbursements.
Veteran and active-military students often access dedicated federal aid programs like the Post-9/11 GI Bill and DoD tuition assistance.
| GI Bill recipients | 30 |
| Avg GI Bill amount | $22,464.00 |
Dig into veteran education benefits on the college veterans page.
Beyond the data above, it helps to ask a few questions when weighing School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the questions below are worth your time:
Each page below covers one part of paying for college in more detail:
Data sources. Figures on this page draw from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), and MediaFactual editorial review. Net-price calculator and financial-aid office links are taken from the institution’s own published data.