I am going to walk you through what the federal government reports about American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles: who it is, how much it costs, who gets in, who stays, and who finishes. I am not going to tell you whether it is the right school for your family. No article can know that. But if you finish reading this, you will understand this piece of the map better than most families who apply here without having looked at it closely.
What kind of school it is, and what kind of school it is not
Let us start with something simple but important: American Academy of Dramatic Arts-Los Angeles is a private, nonprofit, two-year institution. It is not a four-year university with a theater major. It is a two-year school, and the highest level it reports offering is an associate degree.
That is not a flaw or a warning. It is information that changes the plan. If your child’s ultimate dream includes a bachelor’s degree, this school — according to what it reports today — does not provide one. In the federal degree report for its most recent year, no bachelor’s degrees awarded by this institution appear. And it is not alone: of the 256 private two-year schools in this same census, 254 are in the same situation. It is the normal pattern for this type of school, not a peculiarity of this one.
If the plan is for your child to move on afterward to a four-year university, the question is not whether this school is good. The question is what transfer agreements it has today and which courses will be accepted for credit. That does not appear in any IPEDS file. Ask for it in writing, with a name and signature, before your child takes the first class.
It is located in Los Angeles, California, within the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metropolitan area, a large urban area. If your child plans to live at home, do not rely on the map: drive the route yourself on a weekday, at the actual time of their classes. Los Angeles traffic does not forgive calculations made from the couch.
And a note that applies to any school, not just this one: in the Carnegie classification, which organizes the nation’s colleges and universities by type, this institution appears outside the classified universe. That does not mean it is worse. It means Carnegie did not assign it a label. Before paying for the first semester, ask admissions what accreditation the school has and what exact degree you will receive, and verify that name yourself on the Department of Education website. No classification saves you that call.
It also does not appear as a historically Black college or university, tribal college or university, or land-grant institution. These are specific designations — of the 3,012 institutions in this directory, 138 have at least one — and this school not having them says nothing about which communities it serves or how your child will feel there. Ask by speaking with someone who already studies on campus.
A small community, and a small minority within it
Here is a number worth looking at directly, without dressing it up: 169 students across the entire campus last fall. It is a very small school — the lowest official category in these reports — and compared with other 255 private two-year schools, seven out of ten have more students than it does.
Being small does not make it better or worse. But it does change how day-to-day life works. Ask whether courses in your child’s program are offered every semester or only once a year. That determines how long it actually takes to finish.
Within that small community, 12 out of every 100 undergraduate students are Hispanic or Latino. It is a small minority, and compared with similar schools it falls below the middle of the group. If that matters to your child — and it does matter to many families, and it is okay that it matters — ask during the visit what exists today: a Latino student group, a cultural center, someone in the office who speaks Spanish. The number does not tell you how your child will feel there. You find that out by talking with people.
There are more women than men among undergraduates — 58 out of every 100 are women — and one fifth of students are between 25 and 64 years old, so this is not a campus made up only of teenagers fresh out of high school.
How admission decisions are made
Here is something many families do not expect from a two-year school: it does not have open admission. You have to earn your place with your application materials.
Out of nine possible considerations, the school marked five as required: the high school transcript, grade point average, personal essay, letters of recommendation, and a formal demonstration of what your child can do — a portfolio or competency examination. That last one makes sense at a performing arts school: they want to see before deciding.
By contrast, it does not consider your child’s class rank, whether they completed a particular course of study, work experience, an English test for applicants, or whether a family member studied there. And something that reassures many families: it does not consider SAT or ACT scores in the admission decision, even if they are submitted. That box does not cover scholarships or placement; ask about that separately.
The application fee is $50. And the essay is required, so start it during the summer, not the week of the deadline. The first draft is never the one you send.
Now for the figure that probably matters most to you: out of every 100 people who applied in the most recent cycle, 90 received an offer of admission. It is a very accessible school in terms of admission. But — and this is important — that number is for the entire school, from a single cycle, and says nothing about cost, how many finish, or whether the specific program your child wants has its own additional screen. Those three questions must be asked separately.
Of those who did receive a yes, only 40 out of every 100 ended up enrolling there. The other 60 had other options and chose another path. This figure does not measure quality or satisfaction; it only counts decisions. When your child’s admission letters arrive, this percentage will not make the decision for your family. Put the letters side by side and compare net price, program, and distance before deposit day.
The sticker price, without makeup
At American Academy of Dramatic Arts-Los Angeles, among 9 first-time, full-time students seeking a credential who received federal Title IV aid and whose EFC records showed family income below $30,000, the average net price was $37,452. Among 3 students from the same population with EFC family income from $48,001 to $75,000, it was $46,735; among 7 students with EFC family income above $110,000, it was $43,210. For dependent students, the range adds their parents’ income and their own.
Between the average for the lower-income range (9 students) and that for the higher-income range (7 students), there is a difference of $5,758. Among first-year students who received any scholarship, the average was $42,794.
Even after scholarships were deducted, the average net price for lower-income families was $37,452 in academic year 2022-23. If that number does not fit your budget, it is better to see it today than in August.
An average does not show how different the cases were within that range; this figure cannot establish that there were families far below or above the published amount. The income ranges on this profile describe first-time, full-time students seeking a credential who received federal Title IV aid; at public institutions, they use the in-state or district rate. The overall average with scholarships, when it appears, describes first-time, full-time students seeking a credential who received federal, state, local, or institutional scholarships or grants.
How it is paid for: scholarships, loans, and what that means
The good news, if it can be called that, is that almost no one pays here without help: 95 out of every 100 degree-seeking students received some scholarship or aid that does not have to be repaid. Among those who received it, the annual average was $11,036.
The Pell Grant — federal aid for lower-income families — went to 28 out of every 100 students. That is less than the percentage that received any scholarship overall, which suggests that much of the aid comes from other sources: state, institutional, or other federal programs. Ask directly which programs make up that difference and what requirements each one has.
And here is the figure you need to face directly as a parent: 46 out of every 100 undergraduate students received a federal student loan that year. That is more than four out of ten. Of those who borrowed, each received an average of $6,974 that school year. If your child borrowed something similar in each of the two years the program lasts, the total would be around $13,948, not counting interest.
I am not telling you that this debt is inevitable for your child. I am telling you that financing with loans is common at this school, and that this number is decided before the first signature, not afterward. That average covers only federal loans in the student’s name: it does not include what parents borrow on their own, credit cards, or bank debt. And it is not the debt students leave with at graduation, because that calculation would add all years together, and that number is not in this report.
The institution does offer an installment tuition payment plan, if that helps organize the family’s cash flow.
Campus life: what is available and what is not
There is institutionally controlled housing here, with capacity for 148 students, on or off campus. It is not required for all first-time students, but that does not mean no program requires it; ask directly. What is clear is that it does not offer meal plans. That does not tell you whether there is a pay-as-you-go cafeteria nearby; confirm it with the school, because eating out every day is expensive.
It reported no ROTC opportunities, does not participate in intercollegiate athletics, and does not belong to any national athletic association. If sports or an ROTC scholarship are part of your child’s plan, this carries weight in the decision — but before crossing it off the list, ask admissions directly what exists today, because these fields report what was marked, not everything that exists.
It also offers no distance-learning courses. Zero students took online classes during the reported term. If your child works or cares for someone at home, the full schedule has to fit in person.
The library has hired staff and a physical collection, but it does not offer interlibrary loan service. If your child’s program involves research, ask how they obtain material that is not in that collection. And the school does report combined academic and career counseling, participation in the Yellow Ribbon program for veterans, a point of contact for military families, and a services page for students with disabilities.
Who stays and who finishes
Here we reach the numbers that should matter most to you, because they speak to what comes afterward.
Of the cohort that entered in fall 2022, 71 out of every 100 were still enrolled or had already completed their program one year later. It is a result somewhat below the middle of similar schools. The other 29 out of every 100 do not appear in that count — the data do not say whether they transferred, paused, or what happened. A number like this does not prove failure or reveal a transfer plan. If transferring is your child’s plan, request transfer data and agreements in writing: that is different evidence.
The graduation rate for the cohort that entered in 2020 — following them within 150% of the normal time for a two-year program — was 76 out of every 100 who completed some degree here. It is a high figure, and it should be stated with the same clarity used for difficult figures: it is a solid result. But it is a historical cohort, not a prediction for your child, and it counts only those who entered for the first time and full time. It does not represent transfer students or part-time students.
And there is a third, longer view: following the generation that entered between 2015 and 2016 for eight full years, 62 out of every 100 had earned a degree or certificate from this school by August 2023. Within that same generation, among those who received a Pell Grant, only 51 out of every 100 did so — 15 points fewer than those without Pell. Compared with other 183 similar schools, it falls below the middle of the group on this eight-year indicator.
That gap between Pell and non-Pell students is a hard truth, and I will not soften it for you. If your family would qualify for Pell, that does not determine what will happen to your child — but it is a question worth asking the school directly: what concrete support exists for those students, whether there is an assigned counselor, emergency aid, and whether institutional scholarship aid renews each year. Ask them to answer in writing.
What this piece cannot tell you
This report does not say what happens to graduates afterward: there are no data on employment, salaries, or how well they did in their acting careers. That falls outside what the federal government reports here, and any claim about it would have to come from another source, not this article.
It also cannot tell you whether this school is right for your child. That depends on three things only your family knows: what your child wants to study and has built so far, how far from home they are willing to live, and what your family can actually pay once the financial-aid letter arrives with concrete numbers.
Now you know in detail an important piece of that map: who this school is, what it really costs, who gets in, who stays, and who finishes. Put it together with your child’s voice and the arithmetic of your own household. From that combination — not from a single article, nor from a single number — comes a plan that truly works for your family.
Source note: The data in this article come from IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) of the United States Department of Education, primarily from reporting cycles 2022-23 and 2023-24. Best College Aid does not represent American Academy of Dramatic Arts-Los Angeles or any government agency; this article is independent informational material based on official public data.