College dataData from U.S. Dept of EducationUpdated May 2026 · 4 min read
Data: 2026-05 Next refresh: Nov 2026

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art: Cost, Graduate Salary, Acceptance Rate and Return on Investment

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art is a private nonprofit college in New York, NY. Students pay about $13,269 a year in net price, and the median graduate earns $83,847 ten years after enrolling. By our Degree-ROI measure the degree pays back in about 1.8 years and adds $303,394 over a decade, ranking it #39 of 918 (top 5%) by value added.

Avg net price / yr
$13,269
Median salary (10 yrs)
$83,847
10-yr value added
$303,394
Acceptance rate
20.7%

What is The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art's acceptance rate?

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art has an acceptance rate of 20.7%, which makes it selective. It is a private nonprofit institution in New York, NY enrolling about 842 students, with a 80.7% graduation rate.

How much does The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art cost?

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art costs about $13,269 per year in average net price, what a typical student actually pays after grants and scholarships. Over four years, including typical borrowing, that totals roughly $68,076. Published sticker cost of attendance is $64,190 per year.

How much do The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art graduates earn?

Ten years after enrolling, the median The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art student earns $83,847 per year. That is $37,147 more than the $46,700 that the typical worker with only a high-school diploma earns.

Is The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art worth it? Degree ROI and payback period

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art pays back its roughly $68,076 cost in about 1.8 years, then keeps returning the earnings premium. Over the first decade the degree adds about $303,394 net of cost, a 5.46x return on the money invested. That ranks it #39 of 918 (top 5%) by value added. Its top-tier value is driven mainly by a low net price and strong graduate earnings.

Top 10% value

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art graduation rate and student debt

80.7% of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art students complete their degree, and the median graduate leaves with $15,000 in federal student debt. That debt is about 18% of one year of median graduate earnings.

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art by the numbers (vs the typical college)

How The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art compares to the median four-year college in our snapshot. Percentile is its rank among the 918 colleges that report both earnings and cost (higher is better).

MetricThis schoolMedian collegePercentile
Avg net price / yr$13,269$20,299cheaper than 82%
Median earnings (10 yrs)$83,847$54,76893th
Graduation rate80.7%57.0%89th
Acceptance rate20.7%75.7%more selective than 94%
10-yr value added$303,394-$28,19296th
ROI multiple (per $1)5.46x0.73x98th
Payback period1.8 yrs8.8 yrsfaster than 98%
How we compute Degree value-add & ROI. Investment basis = average net price × 4 years + median debt (net price preferred; published sticker cost used as a fallback). Earnings premium = median earnings 10 years after entry minus the $46,700 typical earnings of a worker with only a high-school diploma (BLS Current Population Survey, median annual earnings for workers with a high-school diploma and no college (~$899/week, 2023)). Degree value-add = premium × 10 years minus total cost, the net return of the degree itself over a high-school career (it can be negative). ROI multiple = 10-year premium ÷ cost. Payback = cost ÷ annual premium. Ranked by value-add among the 918 four-year colleges in this snapshot that report both earnings and cost; 226 of them do not pay back at ten years. Missing values are excluded, never estimated.
Open data: these figures come from the public College Scorecard (public domain). Our computed Degree value-add, ROI multiple, and payback are free to cite/reuse under CC-BY 4.0.

Frequently asked

Is The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art worth the cost compared to other colleges?

By value added net of cost, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art ranks #39 of 918 (top 5%) of the 918 four-year colleges we rank, and returns about 5.46x the money invested over a decade.

Is The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art expensive compared to other colleges?

Its $13,269 average net price is below the $20,299 median for the colleges in this snapshot, making it cheaper than 82% of them.

Do The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art graduates earn more than average?

Median earnings of $83,847 ten years out are above the $54,768 median, higher than 93% of the colleges here.

How hard is it to get into The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art compared to other colleges?

Its 20.7% acceptance rate is below the 75.7% median, making it more selective than 94% of the colleges in the snapshot.

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