Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & DesignPrivate (for-profit)

Sessions College for Professional Design

Tempe, Arizona·Private for-profit, 4-year or above·Southwest·sessions.edu
Acceptance
85.7%
+8.8pp vs Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design
6-yr Graduation
40%
Total enrollment
194
peer median 206
Avg net price
$15,156
-$4.6k vs Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design
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Admissions & acceptance rate

First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.

Applied
21
21 candidates competed
Admitted
18
85.7% acceptance rate
Enrolled
14
77.8% yield

Graduation rate & outcomes

Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.

Overall completion
40%
Full-time retention
67%

Pell equity

23.0pp gap
Pell recipients
27%
Non-Pell
50%

Non-Pell students graduate at a 23.0-point higher rate than Pell recipients.

Program outcomes

Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.

Of 9 Title IV programs, 0 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 9 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.

Total programs
9
Passing
0
0.0% of portfolio
Failing (GE)
0
0.0% of portfolio
Fail rate
0.0%
-0.6pp vs 0.6% national

Pass / fail distribution

9programs
  • Passing0 · 0.0%
  • No Data9 · 100.0%
  • Failing0 · 0.0%

Severity spectrum

Critical
0
Severe
0
Recoverable
0
At Risk
0
Watch
0
Safe
0
No data
9

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.

Debt vs earnings

Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.

1
Design and Applied Arts
Undergraduate Certificate · Visual And Performing Arts
32%
$11,875 debt · $37,727 earn

Accreditation status & history

Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.

AccreditedInstitutional accreditor

Distance Education Accrediting Commission

Accredited since 2001Next review Jun 2030

Action history · 6

  1. Jun 2025Renewal of Accreditation
    Distance Education Accrediting Commission
  2. Jun 2025Grant Substantive Change: Other
    Distance Education Accrediting Commission
  3. Jan 2024Grant Substantive Change: Ownership
    Distance Education Accrediting Commission
  4. Jan 2024Grant Substantive Change: Other
    Distance Education Accrediting Commission
  5. Jun 2020Renewal of Accreditation
    Distance Education Accrediting Commission

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Tuition & cost

What families actually pay, broken down by family income.

Net price by family income

Aid exceeds costFamily pays
$0–30k$13,654
$30–48k$12,289
$48–75k$20,732
$75–110k$21,244
$110k+$21,244

Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.

Avg net price (private)
$15,156
-$4,643vs Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design median $19,799
Federal loans
34.4%
In-state tuition
$12,440
Out-of-state
$12,440

Federal aid volume & trends

Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.

In AY 2024–25, 197 students received $864K in Pell grants, alongside $1.2M in federal Direct Loans.

Pell recipients
197
AY 2024–25
Pell disbursed
$864K
$863,746 total
Direct Loans
$1.2M
328 loan awards

Pell recipients · 5-year trend

0k
20
0k
21
0k
22
0k
23
0k
24

Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25

Subsidized$489K
166 loan awards
Unsubsidized · UG$681K
158 loan awards
Parent PLUS$22K
4 loan awards

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.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Student loan default rate

The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.

Of 109 borrowers who entered repayment, 2 (1.8%) defaulted within three years below the 2.3% national rate.

Default rate
1.8%
-0.5pp vs 2.3% national
Borrowers in repayment
109
Defaulted
2
Measurement window
3 years
Federal CDR standard

Default rate vs national, by cohort

2016
15.7%
2017
15.6%
2018
17.1%
2019
1.8%
2020*
0.0%
This institutionNational rate

* 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.

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

Academic programs at Sessions

Top program areas ranked by completions.

Distinct CIP programs6
UndergraduateOffered
GraduateOffered

Top program families by completions

31 total completions
01Visual/Performing Arts
2683.9%
02Comm. Technologies
516.1%
03Computer Sciences
00.0%

Enrollment trends & demographics

Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.

Fall total
194
12-mo unduplicated
279
Undergraduate
279
Graduate
0

Gender split

Men
34%96
Women
66%183

Race / ethnicity composition

White
55.3%
Black
18.4%
Hispanic
9.9%
Two or more
7.9%
Unknown
6.6%
Asian
1.3%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander
0.7%

Student-faculty ratio

Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.

Student-to-faculty
13.0:1

Sessions vs Peer comparison

The peer institutions Sessions selected for federal comparison reporting.

GraduationRetentionSelectivityEnrollmentAffordabilityYield
This institutionPeer median

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
SubjectSessions College for Professional Design
40%85.7%194$15,156Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design
MediaTech Institute-Dallas
217$18,860Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design
Culinary Institute Inc
316$26,470Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design
Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts-Austin
305$20,738Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design
MediaTech Institute-Houston
62$16,906Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design
KD Conservatory College of Film and Dramatic Arts
68.2%70$24,148Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design
Peer group median40%76.9%206$19,799

Frequently asked questions about Sessions College for Professional Design

Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Sessions.

What is the acceptance rate at Sessions College for Professional Design?

Sessions College for Professional Design's acceptance rate is 85.7% (18 admitted from 21 applicants), based on the latest IPEDS.

What is the graduation rate at Sessions College for Professional Design?

Sessions College for Professional Design reports a 6-year graduation rate of 40% per the latest IPEDS.

How many students attend Sessions College for Professional Design?

Sessions College for Professional Design reports a total enrollment of 194 students per the latest IPEDS.

What is the average net price at Sessions College for Professional Design?

The average net price at Sessions College for Professional Design is $15,156 per the latest College Scorecard. Net price is the published cost of attendance minus grant aid.

What is the yield rate at Sessions College for Professional Design?

Sessions College for Professional Design's yield rate is 77.8%, the share of admitted students who enrolled, per the latest IPEDS.

Where is Sessions College for Professional Design located?

Sessions College for Professional Design is located in Tempe, Arizona 85281.

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