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Southern California Institute of Architecture: Rankings, Cost & Majors

Fair Price Value for Your Money
77% Acceptance Rate
8% Student Loan Default Rate

Southern California Institute of Architecture is a private not-for-profit institution in Los Angeles, California enrolling 236 undergraduates. It accepts 77% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 71%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #1,186 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 23%), 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.

How Is Southern California Institute of Architecture Ranked?

Southern California Institute of Architecture ranks #1,186 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 23%.

#1,186 Best Colleges in Nation
#139 Best Colleges in CA
Southern California Institute of Architecture ranking badge

2027 Rankings

College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual rankings and ranks them in a variety of ways, including most diverse, best overall quality, best for non-traditional students, and much more.

Overall Quality

SCI-Arc is ranked #1,186 out of 5,159 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges list.

SCI-Arc is also ranked #139 on the Best Colleges in California list.

See all of the rankings for Southern California Institute of Architecture.

Is It Hard to Get Into Southern California Institute of Architecture?

77% Acceptance Rate
79% Of Accepted Are Women

Acceptance Rate

Southern California Institute of Architecture has an acceptance rate of 77%, which makes it somewhat selective. Make sure it’s not the only school you apply to, even if it’s your school of choice. Whether you get in or not will largely depend on how you compare to other applicants.

Learn more about Southern California Institute of Architecture admissions.

What Is the Student-to-Faculty Ratio at Southern California Institute of Architecture?

9 to 1 Student to Faculty
62% Full Time Teachers

Student to Faculty Ratio

At SCI-Arc, 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.

Percent of Full-Time Faculty

When estimating how much access students will have to their teachers, some people like to look at what percentage of faculty members are full time. This is because part-time teachers may not have as much time to spend on campus as their full-time counterparts.

The full-time faculty percentage at Southern California Institute of Architecture is 62%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  62 out of 100
0
100

What Are the Graduation and Retention Rates at Southern California Institute of Architecture?

91% Freshmen Retention
71% On-Time Graduation Rate

Freshmen Retention Rate

The freshmen retention rate of 91% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like Southern California Institute of Architecture enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.

Freshmen Retention Rate  91 out of 100
0
100

Graduation Rate

The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at SCI-Arc for first-time, full-time students is 71%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.

On-Time Graduation Rate  71 out of 100
0
100

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Southern California Institute of Architecture.

How Diverse Is Southern California Institute of Architecture?

236 Undergraduate Students
37.1% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
44.6% Percent Women

The current enrollment includes 236 undergraduates at SCI-Arc.

Get more detailed information on the diversity at Southern California Institute of Architecture.

How Much Does Southern California Institute of Architecture Cost?

$17,140 Net Price
24% Take Out Loans
$32,152 Total Student Loans

The overall average net price of SCI-Arc is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. 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 SCI-Arc, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.

Student Loan Debt

While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At SCI-Arc, approximately 24% of students took out student loans averaging $8,038 a year. That adds up to $32,152 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 7.8%. 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 Southern California Institute of Architecture.

How Much Do Southern California Institute of Architecture Graduates Earn?

$71,909 Avg Salary of Grads
High Earnings Boost

The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree from Southern California Institute of Architecture make about $71,909 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. This is good news for future Southern California Institute of Architecture graduates since it is 46% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year. Average Salary for Southern California Institute of Architecture Graduates

See which majors at Southern California Institute of Architecture make the most money.

Where Is Southern California Institute of Architecture Located?

California State
236 Undergraduate Students
Large City Campus Setting

Southern California Institute of Architecture is a private not-for-profit institution found in Los Angeles, California. The surrounding area of the school is a good match for students who enjoy city life. Get more details about the location of Southern California Institute of Architecture.

Location of Southern California Institute of Architecture

Contact information for Southern California Institute of Architecture can be found below.

Contact Details
Address: 960 E. 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013-1822
Phone: 2136132200
Website: www.sciarc.edu
Facebook: www.facebook.com/sciarc
Twitter: www.twitter.com/sciarcnews

What Majors Does Southern California Institute of Architecture Offer?

5 Majors With Completions
326 Undergraduate Degrees

During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 5 majors graduated from Southern California Institute of Architecture. 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 163 NA
Architectural Sciences 131 NA
Graphic Communications 23 NA
Educational Assessment 5 NA
Natural Resources Conservation 4 NA

Learn more about the majors offered at Southern California Institute of Architecture along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Curious how schools stack up against SCI-Arc? Match them up using College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare colleges on the features that matter most to you.

Notes and References

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.

References

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