OverviewAdmissionsProgramsCostsFinancial AidUndergraduate OutcomesClassroomHousingServicesStudent BodySchool Finances
Overview
Founded in 1974, American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles is located in a large city with a population of more than 250,000. It is in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim CA area.
Highlights
Undergraduate program with the highest reported starting salary ($18K): Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft
Largest undergraduate program (128): Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts
Institutional Control
American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles is a private not-for-profit organization and is related to other schools.
Fewer details
Accreditation
Accreditation provides important oversight over a school's instructional practices and institutional stability.
American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles holds an accreditation from one of the seven regional accreditors, which should ensure that credits earned transfer easily to other schools.
Accreditation History
National Association of Schools of Theatre, Commission on Accreditation (Accredited July 1, 1983 - present)
Western Association of Schools and Colleges, Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (Accredited July 1, 1981 - January 11, 2008)
Middle States Commission on Higher Education (Accredited June 26, 2008 - present)
- The next accreditation review is scheduled for November 30, 2021.
Undergraduate Students
Not all students attend their first college full time to completion. While some schools are focused on those that population, many schools focus on transfer and or part time students. What types of of student does this school support.
Full-time first-time students
Full-time transfer students
Part-time first-time students
Part-time transfer students
Admissions
Context: Average High School GPA
American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles did not report the average high school GPA of it's students.
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Admissions Details
Here are some important dates and little tidbits. Please double-check this information on the American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles's webpage for the most up-to-date and accurate answers! We update this information with each school's annual reporting, but information can change unexpectedly. Select any item to view the details.
Admissions Criteria & Qualifications
Application Fee & Common App
Freshman application dates
Transfer application information
Credits accepted from new students
Percentage of applicants who are accepted
A low percentage here can indicate that a school is highly selective. We think this is one of the least important numbers for you to consider.
Selectivity can be misleading
You may have heard that a high rejection rate is an indicator of a good school. However, this number can be gamed, and some schools started gaming the system to perform better in college ratings books and sites. Ididio believes a combination of good outcomes (e.g. successful graduation rates and loan repayments) along with indicators of a well-prepared student body (e.g. test scores and high school records) are the best indicators of a good academic experience for those who attend. Our advice is that you don't pay too much attention to this number as you decide whether you might be admitted.
Percentage of accepted students who choose to attend
This is called the yield, and it suggests whether this was a first-choice school or a back-up school for most applicants. Even the most prestigious Ivy League schools lose about a third of their accepted students come enrollment time.
Programs
American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles program offerings
What award level are you pursuing?
Associate's Degree
Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts
A program that focuses on the general study of dramatic works and their performance. Includes instruction in major works of dramatic literature, dramatic styles and types, and the principles of organizing and producing full live or filmed productions
Note: The name and definition of this program are based on Department of Education CIP code descriptions, which ensures uniform reporting across schools in the US. Please check this school's website for detailed program information and their specific course descriptions._
Choose how to look at program completions
By Level
By Race/Origin
By Gender
Completions in Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts by award level
Associate's Degree
1-2 Year Certificate
Recently College Scorecard released data on starting salaries and cumulative federal student debt for each school/program combination with sufficient graduates to allow for privacy concerns with data releases. Shown in the box plots below are data for all schools offering drama/theatre arts and stagecraft (which may contain several related fields) by award level. If a value is reported for American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles, then that is shown in blue.
Starting Salaries
Cumulative Federal Student Loan Debt
What can I do if I study Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts?
Below we list the careers that the US Department of Education suggests are best fits for people who studied drama and dramatics/theatre arts. You can get an idea of salary and the level of education you'll need, as well as whether this is a growing or shrinking career field. Sometimes this list of recommended careers doesn't match what people who earned this degree are really doing. Our drama and dramatics/theatre arts program page has much more information about the interplay between study in this field and possible careers. Select any table row to learn more about listed career.
Occupation
Follow these links to learn all about this career!
Costs
Undergraduate costs
Here's a quick summary of costs to attend American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles. You will find the most up-to-date information at their website for admissions.
View
All
Charge
Annual fees
Annual tuition
Estimated books and supplies
Miscellaneous (living off campus)
Miscellaneous (living on campus)
Miscellaneous (living with family)
Off-campus room and board
On-campus room and board
Cost
$750
$35,440
$570
$6,890
$1,400
$6,300
$14,350
$13,615
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Net price: the best estimate for the cost to attend
Most schools publish tuition rates that give them room to offer both scholarships and financial aid where applicable. Your best estimate of what might pay is to see what others with similar family incomes have paid. A more tailored and accurate estimate is available at this school's net price calculator.
Understanding net price
With their net price calculators, many colleges and universities give an idea of what merit-based aid might accompany need-based aid. For schools that share such data, we also provide financial aid data in the Finanical Aid sections.
There are some caveats to consider when using the net price estimates:
- The net price calculation is weighted by this school's proportion of students living on- and off-campus and this school's estimate of off-campus costs, which may cause the net price methodology be a bit inconsistent from school to school.
- Parental income and student financial aid eligibility is sometimes more complicated than the simple family income number reported here.
- The net price calculation for all students is inclusive of students who received any institutional or government aid, but at the family income levels the net price only considers the tuition paid by those who qualified for federal aid.
You can get a little better guess at what you would pay by using this school's net price calculator.
Percentage of students receiving any aid
The donut, based on 113 full-time first-time degree seeking students at American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles, shows the percentage of those who received any financial aid (including merit-based scholarships), subdivided by family income.
Aid type and family income
Federal: $0-30K
Federal: $30K-48K
Federal: $48K-75K
Federal: $75K-110K
Federal: Above $110K
Only institutional
Net price by family income
All Incomes
Let's look over the past few years at what freshmen who received any financial aid actually paid for tuition, fees, books, and living expenses on average, and how that compares to the tuition usually paid for other private universities in your context group. Public universities only report net price for in-state students.
Find your net price estimate: www.aada.edu/admissions/net-price-calculator/...
Not so much?
Historic Annual Costs
See how this school's published costs have changed over the years, and how their cost trends compare with other private schools.
Published costs may have little to do with what you actually pay
It's important to remember that a school's published costs may not be indicative of what it will actually cost to attend. Time magazine wrote about this in their article Yes, you can get a college to cut its tuition price. Nonetheless, this inflation-adjusted look at the historic annual costs for tuition, fees, books, and supplies can give you an idea of the costs you might expect in the coming years. Comparing the total costs inclusive of room and board (if applicable) with the annual net price estimates in the previous tab will help you determine the financial aid package to expect.
Private and public universities' charges are difficult to compare due to the in-state and out-of-state price differences of public universities, and therefore we only compare American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles to other private schools within your chosen context group.
Include room and board
Undergraduate tuition, fees, books, and supplies over time
Financial Aid
Financial aid overview
Understanding the rules and process that determine who gets financial aid can be intimidating. Here are some quick links to help:
- Visit American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles's Net Price Calculator for the most accurate estimate of your anticipated costs. Every school publishes a Net Price Calculator that does its best to give you a fair estimate of what you might expect to pay. Many calculators consider your high school record as part of the calculation. This will be far more accurate than any of the averages or published tuition values that you see here.
- FederalStudentAid, a government site that will walk you through the federal financial aid process. There are a number of kinds of student loans and other aid, and this site can walk you through all of the choices you will need to make.
Required Forms
Need-based Scholarships Available
Undergraduate Outcomes
Graduation Rate
All undergraduate students were full-time with about 62% of them attending college for the first time. In the last reporting year, 67% of students, including those who were part-time or transfer students, received a degree within 8 years.
Time to complete
4 years
6 years
8 years
Context: Graduation rate
These numbers reflect eight-year graduation rates for all degrees at the colleges and universities in your chosen context group. This reporting is for undergraduate students inclusive of transfer students and full/part-time students.
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Are students graduating on time?
Let us tell you all about low graduation rates!
Across the country, graduation rates are surprisingly low. In fact, Forbes Magazine suggests that they are unacceptably low. However, from another point of view, sometimes graduation rates simply reflect the relative preparation of the students who enter. Colleges with a mission to help people coming from less advantaged backgrounds, such as first-generation and low-income students, may have low graduation rates despite relatively strong outcomes for students who face many obstacles to success. Without the context provided in these views of completion rates, it can be tricky to separate predatory schools that take financial advantage of under-prepared students from those that are actively seeking to encourage and help those students.
For the consumer choosing a school, once you have narrowed your list to those schools that you can afford and that seem likely to admit you, consider the outcome measures in this section and choose the specific measures that best describe your plans. Very simply, schools with high graduation rates and high loan repayment rates will likely give you the best opportunity to succeed.
Context: the impact of wealth and transfer status on degree completion
We took a close look lagging success for students with financial need in a case study. Here's a chance to compare schools based on student successes with a better appreciation of how circumstances may impact success. One word of caution: the statistics for some categories may consist of only a handful of students -- see the details by hovering or long-pressing on the bars.
Full-time first-time students
Full-time transfer students
Part-time first-time students
Part-time transfer students
Choose a student group
Full-time first-time students
Full-time transfer students
Percentage with Pell Grants
Years after enrolling.
4
6
8
Full-time first-time students who received an award within 8 years after enrolling
Context and trends: Repayment Rate
How much progress do you think you'll be able to make towards paying down your college loans seven years after leaving school? In our research, we discovered that a surprisingly large number of students don't default on their loans, but also aren't making progress in paying down their principal amount. The percentages here count alumni who have decreased their loan amounts by at least $1.
Years after leaving school.
7
5
3
Context and trends: are the loan default rates as small as possible?
The default rate is the percentage of students who are already delinquent on their loans within three years of leaving the school. If a school has a high default rate, that sends an alarm out that the students' educations are not sufficient to earn enough to repay those loans. Read below for details on the typical loan burden, and keep in mind that a low default rate may be more important than loan amounts in predicting your future success.
Loan burden
At American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles, 56% of full-time degree-seeking freshmen receive federal student loans, averaging $18,813 each in just the freshman year. We have much more details about the full loan burden students experience in our Cost and Financial Aid Section.
Context: Percentage of freshmen with federal loans
Context: Average freshman federal loan amount
Not so much?
Classroom Experience
Student attention at American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles
Schools are required to report the ratio of students per instructor, but look for a small number of students for every full-time instructor as your best indicator of personal attention and a modern well-integrated curriculum.
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Full-time and long-term instructors at American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles
Full-time faculty are mostly likely to be on campus and available for interaction, and to craft up-to-date courses and programs. American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles has 16% full-time instructors, and 93% of the context schools have a higher percentage of full-time instructors. Faculty with multi-year contracts provide additional stability and commitment to the school and its students.Within the full-time instructors at American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles, none have multi-year employment contracts. Of the context schools, only 31% have instructors with multi-year contracts.
Full-time instructors
Long-term instructors
Not so much?
Faculty Diversity
Here's an opportunity to explore the faculty's diversity. For many schools, attracting a diverse teaching faculty can be a challenge. It's important to judge their success with the reality check of what their peer schools have accomplished.
Number of full-time instructors
The chart shows male instructors to the left, and female to the right, with the races/origins included along the bars. Select the context graph to see how this diversity profile compares to the schools that interest you.
Housing
Activities and Services
Undergraduate services offered
- Personal/psychological counseling
- Academic/career counseling services
Programs for Veterans
If you are a veteran, it's worth digging around to find a military-friendly campus. We think this article about how colleges might help veterans might be a good starting point for questions to ask the Admissions office before you choose to attend. It's also good to be aware that many for-profit schools are behaving as predators, hungry for GI Bill dollars. Watching out for those schools is no different for veterans than for all students: judge very critically using our "Student Satisfaction and Success" tab for undergraduate programs. We wish we had the same data to support graduate programs; however, we think the undergraduate data is a good starting point for judging overall quality.
- Dedicated point of contact for support services for veterans, military servicemembers, and their families
- Yellow Ribbon Program
Student Body
Study Types
All students are full-time. No students take distance education courses.
Full-time
Online classes
Context: Student body size
American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles enrolled 296 students over the past academic year. The the student body size is smaller than 63% of the context schools.
Undergraduate student gender
Is the gender balance of American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles students important to you? You can see the breakdown in this donut chart.
Gender
Men
Women
Undergraduate student race/origin
American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles reports that 25% of students are minority, which is less than 70% of the context schools. This school's 32% of international students representing 37 countries is near the middle proportion of international students within the context schools.
Race/Origin
White
Black
Pacific Islander
Hispanic
Asian
American Indian
Multiracial
Not Reported
International
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Context: Gender Balance
It is very difficult for many types of schools to achieve a gender balance, and this context is valuable in evaluating the balance at American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles.
Context: Percentage of women
With 61% women , American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles ranks near the middle of context schools in its percentage of women students.
Context: Student race/origin
Here is how American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles compares to the rest of the context group in terms of diversity in the student race and origin.
Freshman residences
A high proportion of international and out-of-state students speaks to reputation and offers an opportunity for diverse interactions in and out of class.
American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles has undergraduates from 27 states or territories and 37 countries.
Freshman residence
In-state
Out-of-state
International
Not Reported
Student age distribution
The age distribution at a school can tell you a lot about its mission. If you're looking for a traditional undergraduate experience, you may prefer to see students who are mostly younger than 25 (lighter shades), but if you want support as a returning student, a large number of students 25 and older (darker shades) may better suit your needs.
Age range
Under 18
18-19
20-21
22-24
25-29
30-34
School Finances
American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles: What its budget can tell you about classroom quality
Where a school spends and collects its money can suggest a lot about the educational experience it offers. The tabs below offer a look at spending that is important for the quality of your experience if you attend.
Instructional spending
Student services spending
Context and trends: Instructional expenditures per student
Instructional expenses are primarily the salary and benefits paid to the heart of a school: its full-time instructors. High expenditures in this area suggest care in hiring enough highly qualified full-time faculty to provide personal attention and up-to-date subject-area excellence.
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Does incoming revenue consistently cover expenses?
American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles is a private not-for-profit school. Along with publicly-controlled schools, not-for-profit schools do not have the goal of annual profit, but they do want to have healthy finances with adequate revenue to meet all expenses. On the other hand, private for-profit schools have creating a profit for shareholders as an annual goal.
Total revenue and expenses by category
We divided revenue and expenses for American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles into categories to give some insight to what may have influenced peaks and ditches in the chart above. The purple shades correspond most directly to student education. The blue shades, auxiliary expenses and revenue, are often related to room and board. We show investment gains and losses in apricot.
Investment gains
Tuition and fees revenue
Government appropriations etc.
Private and capital gifts
Other revenue
Investment losses
Instructional expenses
Student services expenses
Academic support expenses
Institutional support expenses
Other expenses
Not so much?
The power of a large endowment
Related to the previous question of whether the annual revenue stream is stable is the question, "How deep are this school's pockets?" For many schools, a major source of annual income is investment growth. Schools with large endowments have a built-in revenue stream, although you'll see in the accompanying graphs that this revenue stream is highly dependent on the nation's economy. You can choose how to examine the depth of American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles's resources by selecting from the buttons below.
Choose asset category
Net Assets
Total Endowment
Endowment Growth Rate
Net Assets Per Student
Here we examine assets at American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles in context, and it seems most fair to adjust for the size of the institution. We examine the assets per full-time-equivalent student so that we level the playing field for size.
There's a catch to these assets, though. Many gifts to a school's endowment have strings attached; the money is restricted to a specific purpose. Assets shown in green below are unrestricted, and are very important to a school's ability to meet its financial obligations. Some assets are the land and buildings that a school must have in order to function, and these may appear as green (unrestricted assets) but are nonetheless less helpful in meeting annual financial commitments. This look at assets is only a piece of the puzzle as we decide if a school is stable.
Restricted net assets
Unrestricted net assets
Context: 2019 net assets per student
