Art Center College of Design Design and Applied Arts (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Design and Applied Arts
- Private nonprofit college
- Pasadena, CA
- About 245 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Art Center College of Design design and applied arts graduates earn more than graduates of most design and applied arts programs nationally, $47,053 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $31,050 in federal loans, more than at 91% of design and applied arts programs in the country. It is one of the higher-paying design and applied arts degrees in California.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The California and national columns are the medians across all design and applied arts bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Art Center College of Design graduates earn more than the national figure and about $21,444 more than the California median.
Debt and first-year pay at every California design and applied arts program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the California medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 73% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned $20,259 less in their first year than other graduates. They also borrowed more. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $329 a month, or 8.4% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual. Separately, 94 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $79,324.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
87% of graduates (214 of 246) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the Los Angeles area are about 14% above the national average, so a $47,053 salary here buys what about $41,432 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to design and applied arts, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Graphic Designers
$75,130Median pay in California. 27,390 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 16,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Web and Digital Interface Designers
$136,110Median pay in California. 27,090 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 8,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Interior Designers
$80,230Median pay in California. 8,500 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Art Directors
$137,780Median pay in California. 12,430 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
About Art Center College of Design
Design and Applied Arts ranks 4th of 5 bachelor's programs at Art Center College of Design by first-year earnings. The top three are Graphic Communications ($67,010), Engineering-Related Fields ($66,860), and Mechanical Engineering Technology ($59,384).
Other design and applied arts bachelor's programs near Pasadena
Common questions
The median graduate earns $47,053 one year after graduating and $81,385 five years after. The median across design and applied arts bachelor's programs in California is $32,070.
The median federal loan balance is $31,050, which ranks 22nd lowest of 26 design and applied arts bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $329 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 66% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 77%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 5% or less. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several California programs report higher pay.
Most do. 87% (214 of 246) were working in California one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of California comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the design and applied arts program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024