New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts
About
The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts (NYCDA) was a private drama school in New York City. It was originally conceived for the purpose of training actors for film and television acting and is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST) to offer associate degrees.
Admissions & acceptance rate
First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.
Graduation rate & outcomes
Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.
Pell equity
Pell recipients graduate at a higher rate than non-Pell students here — unusual and worth investigating.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 3 Title IV programs, 0 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 1 fails. 2 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing0 · 0.0%
- No Data2 · 66.7%
- Failing1 · 33.3%
Severity spectrum
Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.
Earnings premium gap
Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.
Debt vs earnings
Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
National Association of Schools of Theatre, Commission on Accreditation
Action history · 3
- Apr 2022Renewal of AccreditationNational Association of Schools of Theatre, Commission on Accreditation
- Apr 2022Renewal of AccreditationNational Association of Schools of Theatre, Commission on Accreditation
- Mar 2018Renewal of AccreditationNational Association of Schools of Theatre, Commission on Accreditation
Tuition & cost
What families actually pay, broken down by family income.
Net price by family income
Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, 138 students received $870K in Pell grants, alongside $5.0M in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 117 borrowers who entered repayment, 1 (0.8%) defaulted within three years — below the 2.3% national rate.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.
Academic programs at NYCDA
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Top program families by completions
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Race / ethnicity composition
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
- On campus18
- Public property9
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
No hate crimes reported.
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
NYCDA vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions NYCDA selected for federal comparison reporting.
A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.
| Carnegie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectNew York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts | 73% | — | 251 | $39,413 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts-Austin | — | — | 305 | $20,738 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts-Boulder | — | — | 8,504 | $12,193 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
Culinary Institute Inc | — | — | 316 | $26,470 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
Delta College of Arts & Technology | — | — | 326 | $19,590 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
Douglas Education Center | — | — | 178 | $26,922 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
FINE Mortuary College | — | 76.5% | 185 | — | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
Jna Institute of Culinary Arts | — | — | 15 | $16,679 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
KD Conservatory College of Film and Dramatic Arts | — | 68.2% | 70 | $24,148 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
Louisiana Culinary Institute | — | 37.5% | 77 | $29,765 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
MediaTech Institute-Dallas | — | — | 217 | $18,860 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
MediaTech Institute-Houston | — | — | 62 | $16,906 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
Miami Media School | — | 100.0% | 28 | $30,528 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
San Francisco Film School | — | — | 127 | $31,029 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
Theatre of Arts | — | 100.0% | 10 | — | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
Worsham College of Mortuary Science | — | 92.0% | 183 | $23,925 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
| Peer group median | 73% | 84.2% | 181 | $24,037 |
Reports & documents (1)
Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.
Grants & funding (6)
Federal grant awards and open funding opportunities awarded to this institution.
- opportunityScholarships awarded at Thespian competitions and eventsinstitution_site$10,000
- opportunityEmpire State Arts Scholarshipinstitution_site
- opportunityFederal Pell GrantU.S. Department of Educationinstitution_site
- opportunityFederal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)U.S. Department of Educationinstitution_site
- opportunityNew York State TAP GrantNew York Stateinstitution_site
- opportunityScholarships based on talentinstitution_site
Frequently asked questions about New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about NYCDA.
What is the graduation rate at New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts?
How many students attend New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts?
What is the average net price at New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts?
What is the yield rate at New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts?
Where is New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts located?
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