Cleveland Institute of Art Design and Applied Arts (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Design and Applied Arts
- Private nonprofit school
- Cleveland, OH
- About 55 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Cleveland Institute of Art design and applied arts graduates earn less than graduates of most design and applied arts programs nationally, $23,358 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $27,000 in federal loans, close to the national median of $27,000. Several Ohio programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Ohio and national columns are the medians across all design and applied arts bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every Ohio design and applied arts program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Ohio medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned $2,384 less in their first year than other graduates. 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 $286 a month, or 14.7% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
32 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $60,015.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
50% of graduates (41 of 82) were working in Ohio one year after graduating. Prices in the Cleveland area are about 6% below the national average, so a $23,358 salary here buys what about $24,869 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
$60,080Median pay in Ohio. 7,280 people work in this job in Ohio. 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
$83,360Median pay in Ohio. 2,520 people work in this job in Ohio. 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
$61,410Median pay in Ohio. 2,180 people work in this job in Ohio. 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
$94,390Median pay in Ohio. 1,050 people work in this job in Ohio. 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 Cleveland Institute of Art
Design and Applied Arts ranks 1st of 3 bachelor's programs at Cleveland Institute of Art by first-year earnings. The others are Graphic Communications ($19,409) and Fine and Studio Arts ($18,839).
Other design and applied arts bachelor's programs near Cleveland
Common questions
The median graduate earns $23,358 one year after graduating. The median across design and applied arts bachelor's programs in Ohio is $35,645.
The median federal loan balance is $27,000, which ranks 8th lowest of 13 design and applied arts bachelor's programs in Ohio. That works out to about $286 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 116% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 77%. Compare the cost with other Ohio programs before deciding.
Most do. 50% (41 of 82) were working in Ohio 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 Ohio 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