12.4%
Debt-to-earnings
Debt-to-earnings ratio of 12.4% at Northwest College of Art & Design exceeds the 8% gainful-employment threshold ($29.0k debt amortized over 10 years vs $31.2k earnings).
Washington · Private for-profit · Predominantly bachelor's
Northwest College of Art & Design
Tacoma, Washington. 150 undergraduate students. 1 programs in the federal Field-of-Study dataset.
ANOMALY ENGINE · NOTABLE SIGNALS
What the data flags at Northwest College of Art & Design
Short-arc shifts (recent 3-year window), peer outliers, earnings trend breaks, completion drops, enrollment cliffs, and debt-to-earnings warnings — surfaced deterministically from the federal record. Multi-decade shifts are reported separately in the Long Arc section, since 25-year tuition drift isn't really an anomaly.
+52%
150%-time completion
150%-time completion at Northwest College of Art & Design rose 52% between 2021 and 2024 (37.9% → 57.7%).
-100%
100%-time completion
100%-time completion at Northwest College of Art & Design fell 100% between 2006 and 2009 (64.7% → 0.0%).
-9pp
150%-time completion
150%-time completion fell 9 pp at Northwest College of Art & Design vs the 2018–2022 baseline (36.4% vs 45.0%).
SECTION 01 · OUTCOMES SNAPSHOT
The numbers, vs. Washington
Each tile compares this institution to the Washington median for the same metric. Sub-line shows the comparison value, not an interpretation. Sparklines trace the federally available history.
$31,167+13% · 6→10y
Washington median $47,350$27,505
Treasury earnings · 6y post-entry36.4%+160% · '97→'24
Washington median 46.8%$29,030+136% · '97→'20
At program completion150+104% · '96→'24
latest IPEDS78.3%+35% · '04→'24
first-time, full-time76.5%+35% · '01→'24
latest cohort$18,100+95% · '00→'24
out-of-state $18,100SECTION 02 · EARNINGS HORIZONS
How earnings spread, 4 to 10 years after entry
Treasury tax-record earnings for federally aided students who first enrolled at this institution. Each point is a horizon from the most-recent vintage. Single median per horizon (no p25/p75 publishing).
Earnings widen with time post-entry. Selection: federal-aid recipients only — not all graduates.Methodology →
SECTION 03 · DEBT-TO-EARNINGS
What loans cost relative to earnings
Annual debt service as a share of median earnings 10 years after entry, computed under federal Direct loan terms (10-year fixed at 6%). The 8% line is the gainful-employment threshold from federal regulation; above 12% has historically been considered “failing” under prior rule cycles.
Institution-wide
12.4%Median federal debt $29,030 amortized over 10 years vs. median earnings $31,167 (10y after entry).
SECTION 04 · LONG ARC
Ten-plus year arc
Federally available history. Coverage varies by metric — IPEDS publishes some series only after 2009 and others only before.
Undergraduate enrollment.
150%-time completion rate.
Median federal student debt at exit.
+160%
Northwest College of Art & Design · completion · 150% rose
22.2% → 57.7%
+35%
Northwest College of Art & Design · retention rose
57.0% → 76.8%
+36%
Northwest College of Art & Design · undergrad enrollment rose
68 → 139
+95%
Northwest College of Art & Design · in-state tuition rose
$9,300 → $18,100
+95%
Northwest College of Art & Design · out-of-state tuition rose
$9,300 → $18,100
+136%
Northwest College of Art & Design · median debt rose
$13,050 → $30,750
-100%
Northwest College of Art & Design · cohort default rate fell
15.3% → 0.0%
+69%
Northwest College of Art & Design · pell share rose
29.9% → 50.7%
+27%
Northwest College of Art & Design · earnings_median_8yr rose
$25,400 → $32,139
FINANCIAL OUTCOME · ILLUSTRATION
Estimate the financial outcome at Northwest College of Art & Design
Pick a program. Cost from Scorecard net price by family income; earnings from Treasury 5-year-post-completion median, projected forward with a Mincer age-earnings curve. The selection-bias toggle applies the Dale-Krueger shrinkage. Outcomes illustration, not a forecast — see methodology.
Shrinks the earnings premium toward the matched-applicant mean. STEM <15%, business ~40%, arts & education ~60%.
EARNINGS SUPPRESSED
Federal privacy rules suppressed earnings for Design and Applied Arts · Bachelor's Degree at Northwest College of Art & Design(cohort below 30 students). The calculator can’t produce a number we’d stand behind, so we don’t.
Outcomes illustration · not a forecast. Projects observed Scorecard earnings forward with a Mincer age-earnings curve under your assumptions. See methodology for the math.
SECTION 07 · SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS
Same sector and degree mix in Washington
Picked by Carnegie sector × predominant credential level. These are not rankings — just nearest-neighbour surfaces for comparison.
CAUSAL DISCIPLINE
“Northwest College of Art & Design graduates earn $X” — not “Northwest College of Art & Design makes you earn $X”
Median earnings describe what cohorts earned. They do not describe what attending Northwest College of Art & Design caused. Selection effects (who admits, who enrolls, who completes) are real. We publish federal data with strict descriptive phrasing — and link the methodology where you can read about the limitations directly.