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Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design

Lakewood, CO · official site ↗

Private for-profitBaccalaureate: Diverse FieldsSmall
50
Fin. Resilience
Resilience score

vs. 16 peers in its group

Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design is a private for-profit institution in Lakewood, CO, classified by Carnegie as “Baccalaureate: Diverse Fields.”

It enrolls about 2,050 undergraduates and is benchmarked here against 16 peer institutions (Baccalaureate: Diverse Fields · Private for-profit).

On Ibex's Financial Resilience score it rates 50 out of 100 within that peer group, a transparent composite of endowment per undergraduate, net tuition revenue per student, and instructional spend per student.

Its strongest standing relative to peers is operating margin (3.8%, 75th percentile).

Its weakest is field-demand outlook (10-yr) (+1.8%).

Ibex's cross-metric scan flags: First-year retention 54% (below 60%).

Peer group

Baccalaureate: Diverse Fields · Private for-profit

16 institutions

First-year retention 54% (below 60%)
Policy & demographic exposure

How exposed Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design is to the structural shifts reshaping higher ed: a composite structural-risk index plus the 2025 federal budget law’s endowment excise tax and Grad PLUS elimination and the demographic enrollment cliff. Only signals that apply to this institution are shown.

Enrollment cliff (home state)Projected change in the institution's home-state high-school graduates from 2025 to 2041 (WICHE). The U.S. total falls about 13%; a directional feeder-market signal, not an enrollment forecast.
-14.1%
Steep decline

Indicative signals, not forecasts — see each metric’s definition and the methodology. Endowment-tax and Grad PLUS figures appear only where the institution is actually exposed; “nationally” compares against all schools that report each signal.

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Revenue composition
Where the money comes from $38.6M total revenue · IPEDS FY2022-23

Tuition & fees is the largest single source at 99% of revenue.

Tuition & fees99.5%
Auxiliary enterprises0.5%

Where each dollar of revenue comes from, as a share of total positive revenue. Sources are standardized across public (GASB) and private (FASB) reporting; a net investment loss in a down market is shown as 0% and excluded from the mix.

Net price by income
Average net price by family income After grant & scholarship aid · Scorecard 2024-25
$0–30K$29,847
$30–48K$29,351
$48–75K$32,387
$75–110K$36,040
$110K+$36,201

Average annual net price (total cost minus grant and scholarship aid) paid by federal-aid recipients in each family-income band. Lower-income bands often pay less where need-based aid is strong.

Financial Health
Net tuition revenue / FTETuition revenue per full-time-equivalent student after institutional aid/discounts — what tuition actually nets.
Strong
$21,145
75th percentile in peer grouppeer median $14,724
Instructional spend / FTESpending on instruction per FTE student — how much of the budget reaches the classroom.
Below peers
$5,374
25th percentile in peer grouppeer median $6,480
In-state tuition & feesPublished in-state tuition and fees before aid (sticker price).
$20,190
75th percentile in peer grouppeer median $18,145
Out-of-state tuition & feesPublished out-of-state tuition and fees before aid (sticker price).
$20,190
75th percentile in peer grouppeer median $18,145
Avg annual cost of attendanceAverage total annual cost — tuition, fees and living costs — before aid.
$37,505
79th percentile in peer grouppeer median $34,556
Avg monthly faculty salaryAverage monthly salary of full-time faculty (IPEDS) — a proxy for faculty investment.
Below peers
$5,588
12th percentile in peer grouppeer median $7,455
Average monthly salary of full-time faculty, as reported to IPEDS.
Average net priceAverage yearly price families actually pay after grants and scholarships.
Below peers
$32,363
86th percentile in peer grouppeer median $27,186
Operating marginNet surplus as a share of total revenue — whether the institution runs in the black.
Thin
3.8%
75th percentile in peer grouppeer median -0.1%
Net surplus as a share of total revenue (IPEDS FY2022-23): (total revenues − total expenses) ÷ total revenues. A surplus above 4% is strong; a thin surplus near 0% leaves little margin for shocks.
Tuition dependencyTuition's share of total revenue — how exposed the budget is to enrollment swings.
99.5%
75th percentile in peer grouppeer median 90.2%
Tuition & fees as a share of total revenue (IPEDS FY2022-23). Higher = more exposed to enrollment swings.
Graduation & completion
Graduation rate · first-time, full-time
31.8%

31.8% graduate within 6 years (150% of normal time)
23.5% on-time, within 4 years (100%)
Counts only students who entered full-time as first-time freshmen and earned a bachelor's here — the conventional headline rate. Excludes part-time entrants and transfer-ins.

Completion rate · all students
38.6%

38.6% earned a degree or certificate within 8 years (IPEDS Outcome Measures)
The broader cohort — also counts part-time entrants and transfer-ins, and any credential. More inclusive, so it can run higher than the graduation rate.

Why two numbers? They measure different students over different windows, so they are not directly comparable. The graduation rate is the standard federal headline but tracks only first-time, full-time students through a bachelor's; the all-students completion rate adds the part-time and transfer students it leaves out, over a longer window. Read each for what it covers. Source: U.S. Department of Education — IPEDS Graduation Rates & Outcome Measures, via College Scorecard.

Enrollment & Pipeline
Undergraduate enrollmentNumber of degree-seeking undergraduates (IPEDS fall headcount). A size measure, not a quality signal.
2,050
100th percentile in peer grouppeer median 377
First-year retentionShare of first-time, full-time freshmen who return for a second year — an early signal of student fit and support.
Below peers
54%
15th percentile in peer grouppeer median 68.8%
Graduation rate (6-yr · first-time, full-time)Of first-time, full-time freshmen, the share who earn a bachelor's at this institution within six years (150% of normal time) — the conventional headline graduation rate. It counts only first-time, full-time students and excludes part-time entrants and transfer-ins, who are captured instead by the all-students completion rate.
Average
31.8%
40th percentile in peer grouppeer median 37.6%
Graduation rate (4-yr on-time · first-time, full-time)Of first-time, full-time freshmen, the share who earn a bachelor's within four years (100% of normal time) — the 'on-time' rate. It runs well below the six-year rate because many students take a fifth or sixth year; same first-time, full-time cohort as the six-year rate.
Average
23.5%
40th percentile in peer grouppeer median 33.3%
Pell recipient shareShare of undergraduates on a federal Pell Grant — a proxy for the share from lower-income families.
48.4%
19th percentile in peer grouppeer median 58.1%
Program concentration (HHI)How concentrated a school's annual completions are across academic fields, as a Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (10,000 = one field, lower = many). Higher means more reliance on a few fields; lower means a diversified program portfolio.
Highly concentrated
4,047
— percentile in peer group
How concentrated the institution's degree and certificate output is across academic fields (CIP 2-digit families), as a Herfindahl-Hirschman Index on the latest year's completions: 10,000 means every completion is in one field; lower means output is spread across many. A higher value means the school leans on fewer fields and is more exposed to demand shifts in them; a lower value reflects a broad program portfolio. Shown for institutions reporting at least 100 annual completions. A structural-diversification signal, not a measure of quality.
12-month FTE enrollmentFull-time-equivalent enrollment over the full year — the denominator for per-student finance measures.
1,819
94th percentile in peer grouppeer median 368
Full-time-equivalent enrollment over the full 12-month year (IPEDS 12-month enrollment, 2022-23). Counts part-time students at their fractional load, so it runs above fall full-time headcount and is the denominator used for per-student finance measures.
Student-faculty ratioStudents per instructional faculty member — lower usually means smaller classes and more contact.
12:1
56th percentile in peer grouppeer median 12:1
Students per instructional faculty member (IPEDS, fall 2023). Lower generally means smaller classes and more faculty contact, though the measure mixes undergraduate and graduate teaching and is institution-reported.
Enrollment cliff (home state)Projected change in the institution's home-state high-school graduates from 2025 to 2041 (WICHE). The U.S. total falls about 13%; a directional feeder-market signal, not an enrollment forecast.
Steep decline
-14.1%
— percentile in peer group
Projected change in the number of high-school graduates in the institution's HOME STATE from the class of 2025 (the national peak) to 2041, per WICHE's Knocking at the College Door, 11th Edition (Dec 2024). The 'enrollment cliff' is the post-2008 birth decline reaching college age; the U.S. total is projected to fall about 13% over this window. A college recruits from many states, so its home-state projection is an indicative directional signal of feeder-market pressure, not a forecast of that institution's own enrollment.
Completion rate (all students · 8-yr)Of ALL entering degree-seeking undergraduates — full- and part-time, first-time and transfer-in — the share who earned a degree or certificate at this institution within eight years (IPEDS Outcome Measures). Broader than the graduation rate, which counts only first-time, full-time students, so the two are measured on different students and are not directly comparable.
Average
38.6%
56th percentile in peer grouppeer median 36.3%
Share of ALL entering degree-seeking undergraduates — full- and part-time, first-time and transfer-in — who earned a degree or certificate at this institution within eight years (IPEDS Outcome Measures, via College Scorecard). Broader and more inclusive than the graduation-rate figures, which count only first-time, full-time students entering a bachelor's program — so the two are measured on different groups of students and are not directly comparable.
Student body
Undergraduate race & ethnicity IPEDS 2024-25
White53.6%
Hispanic/Latino16.1%
Black14.1%
Two or more races5.7%
Unknown5.7%
Asian2.8%
American Indian/Alaska Native1.9%
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander0.1%
International0.1%

Undergraduate enrollment by race and ethnicity, as reported to IPEDS (College Scorecard). “International” denotes nonresident students; “Unknown” means race/ethnicity was not reported.

Student Outcomes & Risk
Median earnings (10 yr)Median earnings of former students ten years after first enrolling (working, federally-aided students).
Average
$42,958
50th percentile in peer grouppeer median $44,164
Median debt at graduationMedian federal loan debt graduates carry at the point they complete.
Below peers
$31,000
94th percentile in peer grouppeer median $26,545
3-yr cohort default rateShare of borrowers who default within three years of entering repayment. Lower is better.
Below peers
14.8%
88th percentile in peer grouppeer median 11.6%
Share of borrowers who defaulted within three years of entering repayment (U.S. Dept. of Education official cohort default rate). Shown for the FY2017 borrower cohort — the most recent cohort whose full three-year default window closed before the 2020-23 federal student-loan payment pause. More recent cohorts are reported by the College Scorecard at essentially 0%, but that reflects the payment pause (no payments were due, so almost no one could default), not borrower health, so the pre-pause cohort is the last meaningful reading. Lower is better.
Share taking federal loansShare of students taking out federal loans — a borrowing-reliance signal.
60%
44th percentile in peer grouppeer median 66%
Full-time faculty shareShare of faculty employed full-time — higher generally means more availability and continuity.
Average
28%
53rd percentile in peer grouppeer median 28%
Debt-to-earnings ratioMedian graduate debt divided by median earnings — how heavy the debt load is versus what graduates earn. Lower is better.
Below peers
0.72×
69th percentile in peer grouppeer median 0.63×
Return on credentialMedian 10-year earnings divided by the four-year cost of attendance (annual cost × 4) — a rough payback ratio for the degree.
Average
0.29×
43rd percentile in peer grouppeer median 0.31×
Median 10-year earnings divided by the four-year cost of attendance (average annual cost × 4). A rough payback ratio: 1.0× means a graduate's annual 10-year earnings roughly equal the full four-year sticker cost. Earnings reflect federally-aided students; cost of attendance is the published sticker price before aid, so this is conservative relative to what families net of aid pay.
Field-demand outlook (10-yr)Employment-weighted 10-year BLS job-growth projection for the occupations this school's program mix feeds (U.S. all-occupations benchmark +3.1%). An indicative broad-field demand signal, not a program-specific or placement guarantee.
Below job-market average
+1.8%
2nd percentile in peer group
Projected 10-year (2024-34) change in U.S. employment for the occupations this institution's degrees and certificates feed, blended across its program mix. Built by mapping each CIP 2-digit field to its occupations via the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk, taking the employment-weighted average of each occupation's BLS-projected percent change, then weighting fields by the institution's latest-year completions. The U.S. all-occupations benchmark is 3.1%, so a higher value means the school's graduates concentrate in faster-growing labor markets. An INDICATIVE field-level signal at broad-field granularity — not a program-specific or graduate-specific projection, and not a placement or earnings guarantee. Structurally diffuse CIP families whose crosswalk maps to 'any job' are excluded from the signal: 05 Area/Ethnic/Gender Studies, 24 Liberal Arts & Humanities, and 30 Multi/Interdisciplinary. Shown where at least 50% of completions fall in fields with a coherent occupational mapping and the school reports 100+ annual completions.
Loan repayment rate (3-yr)
52.4%
94th percentile in peer grouppeer median 33.8%
Share of student-loan borrowers who had repaid at least $1 of their loan principal within three years of entering repayment (College Scorecard, FY2024-25). Read it as context, not a simple good/bad score: a low rate can mean borrowers are struggling, but it can also mean many graduates have postponed payments while enrolled in graduate or professional school, which is common at selective schools and pushes their rate down. Unlike the cohort default rate, it is not distorted by the 2020-23 federal payment pause. Reported only where enough borrowers exist.
Top fields of study (bachelor's)

Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design’s largest fields by completions, with graduate earnings (4 years out) and debt benchmarked against the same field at its peer group. Sparklines show the 8-year completions trend.

FieldCompletions / yrMedian earnings, 4 yrs outMedian debtEarnings premiumRisk score
Visual & Performing Arts128$41,617—Above benchmark +0%Low · 31
Computer & Information Sciences41$48,472
8th pct · 13 peers
—Above benchmark +17%Low · 13
Communications Technologies36$37,239—Below benchmark -10%Moderate · 39
Education4———Moderate · 50

1 of 3 top fields shown have median graduate earnings below the CO state earnings-premium benchmark—an indicative flag under the 2025 federal earnings-premium test (effective July 1, 2026).

Earnings-premium status is an indicative estimate: median graduate earnings four years out vs the CO state median earnings of a high-school graduate (undergraduate credentials) or a bachelor’s-degree holder (graduate credentials) from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (2022 ACS 5-year). The official U.S. Department of Education determination uses its own cohort definition and may differ.

The risk score (0–100) is an indicative blend of earnings-premium margin and the five-year completions trend—higher means a field pays closer to (or below) the benchmark and is shrinking. A directional screen, not an official determination.

See the interactive dashboard for all fields and credential levels (associate through doctoral). Source: College Scorecard Field of Study.

Frequently asked
What is Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design's student-faculty ratio?
Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design reports a student-faculty ratio of 12:1 (IPEDS, fall 2023) — that is, about 12 students for every instructional faculty member.
How much does Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design cost?
The average published cost of attendance is $37,505 and the average net price after aid is $32,363 (College Scorecard).
How much do Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design graduates earn?
Median earnings ten years after entry are $42,958 (College Scorecard), measured across students who received federal aid.
Are Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design's programs at risk under the federal earnings-premium test?
Indicatively, at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, 1 of the 3 largest fields with available earnings data have median graduate earnings (four years out) below the CO state earnings-premium benchmark used by the 2025 federal test (effective July 1, 2026), under which programs can lose Title IV eligibility if graduate earnings trail those of a typical worker without the credential for 2 of 3 years. This is an estimate using College Scorecard field-of-study earnings vs ACS state/national medians; the Department of Education's official determination uses its own cohort definition and may differ.
Which schools are Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design's peers?
Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design is benchmarked against 16 institutions in the Baccalaureate: Diverse Fields · Private for-profit peer group; all percentiles and medians on this page are computed within that group.
Compare with peers
Berkeley College-New YorkDigiPen Institute of TechnologyUniversity of Advancing TechnologyThe College of WestchesterStrayer University-ArkansasCentral Penn College

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Source: U.S. Department of Education — College Scorecard & IPEDS (most recent releases), with the U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Employment Projections, field-demand outlook) and WICHE (enrollment-cliff projections). Figures lag the current academic year by roughly two to three years. Percentiles and medians are computed within the institution's peer group. Financial Resilience is a transparent composite — see each component above. Compiled by Ibex Insights.