The Ailey School
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Overview
The Ailey School is located in a large city with a population of more than 250,000. It is in the New York-Newark-Jersey City NY-NJ-PA area.
Highlights
Undergraduate program with the highest reported starting salary ($24K): Dance
Largest undergraduate program (18): Dance
Address
405 W 55th Street
New York, NY 10019
www.theaileyschool.edu
Additional links
SOURCES:
Accreditation:
good
Institutional Control
The Ailey School is a private not-for-profit organization.
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Accreditation
Accreditation provides important oversight over a school's instructional practices and institutional stability.
The Ailey School holds an accreditation from one of the national accreditors. Credits earned from the national accreditors are often not accepted by schools holding the more prestigious regional accreditation, and it's important to verify that your credits will transfer if you are considering an eventual switch to another school.
Accreditation History
National Association of Schools of Dance, Commission on Accreditation (Accredited September 1, 1982 - present)
  • The accreditation was recently renewed on September 1, 2017.
  • The next accreditation review is scheduled for March 1, 2026.
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.
SOURCES:
Admissions
Context: Average High School GPA
The Ailey School 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 The Ailey School'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
Admissions Criteria & Qualifications
Application Fee & Common App
Application Fee & Common App
The Ailey School has an undergraduate application fee of $20. We did not find The Ailey School on the Common Application site. Keep in mind that it never hurts to inquire with an Admissions office to see whether they might be willing to waive your application fee.
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.
39%38%0%20%40%60%80%100%WomenMen
SOURCES:
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.
53%35%0%20%40%60%80%100%WomenMen
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Programs
The Ailey School program offerings
What award level are you pursuing?
1-2 Year Certificate
Dance
A general program that prepares individuals to express ideas, feelings, and/or inner visions through the performance of one or more of the dance disciplines, including but not limited to ballet, modern, jazz, ethnic, and folk dance, and that focuses on the study and analysis of dance as a cultural phenomenon. Includes instruction in technique, choreography, Laban notation, dance history and criticism, and dance production
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 Dance by award level
020406080100120Number of graduates2010201120122013201420152016201720182019
2-4 Year Certificate
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 dance (which may contain several related fields) by award level. If a value is reported for The Ailey School, then that is shown in blue.
Starting Salaries
$0$10,000$20,000$30,000$40,000Bachelor's
Cumulative Federal Student Loan Debt
$0$10,000$20,000$30,000Bachelor's
What can I do if I study Dance?
Below we list the careers that the US Department of Education suggests are best fits for people who studied dance. 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 dance 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!
Salary
Salary distribution for people with this Career
Median
Middle 50%
Middle 80%
Education
No college
Some College
Bachelor's
Master's
Doct./Prof.
Growth Rate
The projected percentage growth in employment over the next 10 years
Costs
Undergraduate costs
Here's a quick summary of costs to attend The Ailey School. 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
$240
$12,385
$500
$9,000
$9,350
$8,000
$13,630
$10,175
SOURCES:
Fewer details
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 27 full-time first-time degree seeking students at The Ailey School, shows the percentage of those who received any financial aid (including merit-based scholarships), subdivided by family income.
56%
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.
20112012201320142015201620172018$0$10,000$20,000$30,000$40,000$50,000
Chart explanation
The Ailey School
On the blue curve, we see how the net annual cost to attend The Ailey School has changed over the years.
Context Schools
The shading shows the spread of the net price for the context schools. The dark shading shows the middle 50% of context schools, and the light shading shows all but the smallest and largest 10%.
Customize your context group using the gear at the top of the page!
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 The Ailey School to other private schools within your chosen context group.

Include room and board
Undergraduate tuition, fees, books, and supplies over time
20122013201420152016201720182019$0$20,000$40,000$60,000
Chart explanation
The Ailey School
On the blue curve, we see how the published annual cost to attend The Ailey School has changed over the years.
Context Schools
The shading shows the spread of the annual cost for the context schools. The dark shading shows the middle 50% of context schools, and the light shading shows all but the smallest and largest 10%.
Customize your context group using the gear at the top of the page!
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 The Ailey School'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.

Undergraduate Outcomes
Graduation Rate
All undergraduate students are full-time. In the last reporting year, 86% of full-time first-time students received a degree within 150% of the expected time for completion.
86%
Time to complete
On time
50% more time
Context: Graduation rate
These numbers reflect the percentage of full-time first-time college students who completed any degree or certificate within 150% of the expected time.
SOURCES:
Fewer details
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
201320142015201620%40%60%80%100%Former students with decreased loan principal
Chart explanation
The Ailey School
On the blue curve, we see the percentage of alumni from The Ailey School who have successfully reduced their federal school loans by at least $1 by the date shown, which is 7 years after leaving the school.
Context Schools
The shading shows the spread of the loan repayment rate for the context schools. The dark shading shows the middle 50% of context schools, and the light shading shows all but the smallest and largest 10%.
Customize your context group using the gear at the top of the page!
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.
201420152016201720180%10%20%30%Former students with loan payment failure
Chart explanation
The Ailey School
On the blue curve, we see the percentage of alumni from The Ailey School who have defaulted on their federal school loans within 3 years ending on the date shown.
Context Schools
The shading shows the spread of the 3-year loan default rate for the context schools. The dark shading shows the middle 50% of context schools, and the light shading shows all but the smallest and largest 10%.
Customize your context group using the gear at the top of the page!
Loan burden
At The Ailey School, 41% of full-time degree-seeking freshmen receive federal student loans, averaging $6,568 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
41%0%20%40%60%80%100%
Context: Average freshman federal loan amount
$6,568$2,000$4,000$6,000$8,000$10,000
Not so much?
Classroom Experience
Student attention at The Ailey School
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.
2330204060Full-time inst.Any inst.
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Full-time and long-term instructors at The Ailey School
Full-time faculty are mostly likely to be on campus and available for interaction, and to craft up-to-date courses and programs. The Ailey School has 5% full-time instructors, and 99% 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 The Ailey School, none have multi-year employment contracts. Of the context schools, only 31% have instructors with multi-year contracts.
Full-time instructors
5%
Long-term instructors
0%
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Housing
Student housing at The Ailey School

There are 40 rooms available, which is room for about 43% of undergraduate students.

Living on campus
43%
SOURCES:
Activities and Services
Undergraduate services offered
  • Academic/career counseling services
SOURCES:
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.
  • Recognized student veteran organization
SOURCES:
Student Body
Study Types
All students are full-time. No students take distance education courses.
Full-time
100%
Online classes
0%
SOURCES:
Context: Student body size
The Ailey School enrolled 93 students over the past academic year. The the student body size is smaller than 86% of the context schools.
SOURCES:
Undergraduate student gender
Is the gender balance of The Ailey School students important to you? You can see the breakdown in this donut chart.
Gender
Men
Women
SOURCES:
Undergraduate student race/origin
The Ailey School reports that 43% of students are minority, which is less than 99% of the context schools. With 37% international students, this school additionally has a lower percentage of international students than 96% of the context schools.
Race/Origin
White
Black
Pacific Islander
Hispanic
Multiracial
Not Reported
International
SOURCES:
Fewer details
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 The Ailey School.
19%81%0%20%40%60%80%100%MenWomen
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Context: Percentage of women
With 81% women students, The Ailey School has a higher percentage of women than 67% of context schools.
SOURCES:
Context: Student race/origin
Here is how The Ailey School compares to the rest of the context group in terms of diversity in the student race and origin.
32%19%2%1%8%1%37%0%20%40%60%80%100%AsianAmerican IndianPacific IslanderNot ReportedHispanicMultiracialWhiteBlackInternational
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.

Freshman residence
In-state
Out-of-state
International
Not Reported
SOURCES:
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
SOURCES:
School Finances
The Ailey School: 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.
200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018$0$20,000$40,000$60,000
Chart explanation
The Ailey School
On the blue curve, we see how the instructional expenses per student at The Ailey School have changed over the years.
Context Schools
The shading shows the spread of the instructional expenses per student for the context schools. The dark shading shows the middle 50% of context schools, and the light shading shows all but the smallest and largest 10%.
All values have been adjusted for inflation. Customize your context group using the gear at the top of the page!
Fewer details
Does incoming revenue consistently cover expenses?

The Ailey School 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 The Ailey School 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.
200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018$0$2M$4M$6M$8MRevenue$0$2M$4M$6M$8MExpense
Investment gains
Auxiliary revenue
Tuition and fees revenue
Government appropriations etc.
Private and capital gifts
Educational sales revenue
Other revenue
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 The Ailey School's resources by selecting from the buttons below.
Choose asset category
Net Assets
Net Assets Per Student

Here we examine assets at The Ailey School 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.

$0$500,000$1,000,000$1,500,000$2,000,000200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018
Restricted net assets
Unrestricted net assets
Context: 2019 net assets per student
-$20,000$0$20,000$40,000$60,000