Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design
Milwaukee, Wisconsin · Private Nonprofit · 60.5% acceptance rate
ROI Score: 22/100 · Below Benchmark
Data: 2024-25 College Scorecard release
Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) scores 22/100 (Below Benchmark), a classic specialty-arts-school profile: respectable completion rate undercut by weak post-grad earnings. Tuition is $43,743 with a $26,541 net price and four-year total cost of $106,164. The earnings premium is just 0.058 over high-school baseline. Three-year repayment rate of 67% (32/100) shows borrowers manage payments but slowly reduce principal. MIAD serves 837 students with a 37.3% Pell rate from its Milwaukee design-focused campus. The two reported major cohorts - Design and Applied Arts (129 grads, D grade) and Fine and Studio Arts (52 grads, F grade) - capture the structural reality: art-school graduates struggle to monetize their degrees at the cost level MIAD charges. Strong portfolio outcomes and creative careers are real but rare; the median student faces a tough financial path.
How Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design scores under our methodology
These are the College Scorecard measures that pull this school's CampusROI score down. They describe the published figures, not the quality of the education, and they are our reading of the data. Check them against your own aid offer and intended major.
- ROI Score22/100 - Below Benchmark tier of our scale (below 45). For context, 38% of the schools we score reach 60 or higher.
- Payback period39.9 years - The median payback across the schools we score is about 12 years.
Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design
Quick Numbers
| In-state tuition + fees | $43,743/yr |
| Out-of-state tuition + fees | $43,743/yr |
| Average net price | $26,541/yr |
| Total 4-year cost (net) | $106,164 |
| Median earnings (10yr post-entry) | $41,174 |
| Average earnings (6yr post-entry) | $28,200 |
| Median debt at graduation | $27,000 |
| Estimated monthly loan payment | $286 |
| Estimated payback period | 39.9 years |
| 6-year graduation rate | 67.0% |
| Undergraduate enrollment | 837 |
Data as of 2024-2025. Source: College Scorecard API (U.S. Department of Education).
The Full Financial Picture
The first number you'll see is the sticker price: $43,743/year, which covers tuition and fees only. After grants, scholarships, and aid, the average student here pays a net price of $26,541/year, or roughly $106,164 over four years. That's the number to plan around.
What you actually pay depends a lot on what your family earns. Families making under $30,000/year pay an average of $21,419/year here, while families earning over $110,000 pay $32,540/year.
Among graduates who borrowed, the median federal loan debt from this school is $27,000, which works out to about $286 a month on the standard 10-year repayment plan. Our debt-to-earnings ratio divides that debt by average earnings six years after entry ($28,200) and comes to 0.96, under 1.0, meaning median debt is less than a full year of those earnings.
Net Price by Family Income
What families actually pay after grants and scholarships, by income bracket.
| Family Income | Avg Net Price/Year |
|---|---|
| $0 - $30,000 | $21,419 |
| $30,001 - $48,000 | $22,531 |
| $48,001 - $75,000 | $22,440 |
| $75,001 - $110,000 | $26,746 |
| $110,001+ | $32,540 |
Cost by Income Bracket Explained
Lower-income families (under $30K)
Families under $30,000 pay $21,419 net, or $85,676 over four years. Pell layering reduces cash debt, but the 0.957 debt-to-earnings ratio and 39.9-year payback period make the math very tough even at the lowest bracket. Low-income students drawn to design should consider UW-Milwaukee at one-third the cost.
Middle-income families ($30K-$110K)
Households earning $30,001-$48,000 pay $22,531 and $48,001-$75,000 pay $22,440 (a mild inversion), then $75,001-$110,000 jumps to $26,746. Middle-income families face four-year cost of $89,760 to $107,000 against $41,174 schoolwide 10-year earnings.
Higher-income families ($110K+)
Families above $110,000 pay $32,540 net, or $130,160 over four years. Full-pay families should treat MIAD as a fit/talent decision.
Earnings by Major
Top 3 most popular majors at Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design with available earnings data.
| Major | Median Earnings | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Design and Applied Arts | $43,944 | D |
| Fine and Studio Arts | $40,952 | F |
| Liberal Arts and Sciences | $50,109 | - |
Earnings reflect median 4-year post-completion (or 1-year where 4-year unavailable). Grades based on debt-to-earnings ratio.
Program Analysis
Why these programs deliver their earnings outcomes.
Design and Applied Arts
Design and Applied Arts is MIAD's largest program with 129 graduates, $28,801 first-year and $43,944 four-year earnings against $27,000 debt for a 0.937 debt-to-earnings ratio and D grade. The major includes industrial design, graphic design, and illustration tracks - commercial-design careers absorb graduates better than fine arts, but earnings still trail tech and engineering majors substantially. This is MIAD's most defensible major economically, and even then the math is tight.
Fine and Studio Arts
Fine and Studio Arts produces 52 graduates with $20,762 first-year and $40,952 four-year earnings against $27,000 debt for a 1.3 debt-to-earnings ratio and F grade. For Fine and Studio Arts, starting that path $27,000 in debt is structurally tough. The major fits students committed to MFA-track fine-art careers willing to accept low earnings.
How Graduates Do
Earnings
Loan Repayment
| Metric | This School | Median of schools we score |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year repayment | 62.0% | 68.8% |
| 3-year repayment | 67.0% | 73.6% |
| 5-year repayment | 66.1% | 67.7% |
| 7-year repayment | 71.3% | 72.8% |
Completion Rate
Trends Over Time
How Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design’s cost and outcomes have moved across College Scorecard releases (2009-2024).
Average Net Price
Completion Rate
Median Earnings, 10 Years After Entry (as reported)
Earnings reflect borrowers measured 10 years after entry and publish on an irregular cadence with a multi-year reporting lag, so this series shows only the years the Department of Education reported - the data is never interpolated.
Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, release years shown. Net price and completion are reported annually.
Admissions Snapshot
| Acceptance rate | 60.5% |
| Enrollment | 837 |
| Pell Grant recipients | 37.3% |
| Avg faculty salary (monthly) | $6,527 |
MIAD admits 60.5% of applicants but reports no SAT or ACT mid-ranges in current Scorecard data. The 60.5% admit rate combined with the 67% completion rate suggests prepared, motivated students with clear creative direction complete at substantially higher rates. Portfolio quality, not test scores, is the meaningful academic screen.
Compared to Similar Schools
Peer institutions matched by type, size, and selectivity.
| School | ROI | Net Price | 10yr Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (this school) | 22 | $26,541 | $41,174 |
| Savannah College of Art and Design | 26 | $49,430 | $45,954 |
| Cleveland Institute of Art | 23 | $29,208 | $42,509 |
| Laguna College of Art and Design | 22 | $42,505 | $47,867 |
| Minneapolis College of Art and Design | 19 | $29,926 | $40,873 |
| Columbus College of Art & Design | 19 | $29,439 | $40,664 |
Who Thrives Here
MIAD fits portfolio-strong design students committed to a career in industrial design, illustration, animation, or applied arts, willing to absorb $26,541 in net annual price, and aware that median post-grad earnings are modest. With 837 students and 37.3% Pell, the campus is intimate and design-focused. Students considering Fine and Studio Arts should run the F-grade math seriously: the school's strongest career outcomes are in commercial design tracks, not fine art.
The Verdict: Below Benchmark Under Our Scoring
Under our methodology, Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design scores 22/100, which falls in the Below Benchmark tier (below 45). At a net price of $26,541 per year, with typical graduate earnings of $41,174 ten years after entry, we estimate the payback period at about 39.9 years. In our view that makes the financial case a hard one to make on the numbers alone, but those numbers are averages: your major, your aid package and what you want from a degree all change the picture, so run your own numbers before you commit.
What to keep an eye on: weak earnings relative to cost, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.96 (median across the schools we score: 0.61), a three-year loan repayment rate of 67.0% (median across the schools we score: 73.6%), a long payback period.
Median debt of $27,000 among graduates who borrowed, against average earnings of $28,200 six years after entry, gives a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.96. That is under 1.0 (a full year of those earnings); the median across the schools we score is about 0.61. Your major - and how much you borrow - really matters.
Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design: Common Questions
Is Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design worth it?
In our view, the financial case is a hard one to make on the numbers alone. Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design scores 22/100 on our ROI scale, in the Below Benchmark tier (below 45). At $26,541 a year after aid against $41,174 in typical earnings ten years out, we estimate the payback period at about 39.9 years. Your major and aid package can change the picture, so run your own numbers.
How much does Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design cost after financial aid?
The average net price - the cost of attendance (tuition, fees, books, supplies and average living costs) minus grants and scholarships, for full-time, first-time students receiving federal aid - is about $26,541 a year, or roughly $106,164 over four years. Because it counts living costs, it can run above tuition alone. That is the number to plan around. Actual cost varies by family income, per the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.
What do Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design graduates earn?
The typical graduate earns about $41,174 ten years after enrolling, at or below the $41,800 median for high-school graduates (NCES, 2022). With little earnings gap to cover the cost, the financial return is hard to make.
How long does it take to pay off Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design?
We estimate the payback period - the time it takes for the earnings bump over a high-school graduate to cover what you spent - at about 39.9 years for Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design. The median across the schools we track is about 12 years.
How much debt do Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design graduates take on?
Among graduates who borrowed, median federal loan debt from this school is about $27,000, against average earnings of $28,200 six years after entry - a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.96. That is under 1.0 (a full year of those earnings); the median across the schools we score is about 0.61. How much you borrow really matters.
What is the graduation rate at Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design?
The six-year graduation rate is 67.0%, at or above the 64% national average for four-year schools (NCES, 2022). Completion is 15% of our ROI score, since a degree you don't finish rarely pays back.
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Data: College Scorecard API (U.S. Department of Education)
Vintage: 2024-2025 · Last updated: 2026-03-25
Earnings reflect median outcomes for all federal financial aid recipients. Individual results vary by major, effort, and career path.