Private nonprofit

Southern California Institute of Architecture

Los Angeles, California·Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above·Far West·sciarc.edu
6-yr Graduation
71%
+10.0pp vs peer
Enrollment
418
peer median 346
Avg net price
$37,535
+$18k vs peer
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About

The Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) is a private Architecture school in the in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1972, SCI-Arc was initially regarded as both institutionally and artistically avant-garde. It currently enrolls approximately 600 students and employs 80 faculty members, some of whom are professional architects. The school is located in the quarter-mile long (0.40 km) former Santa Fe Freight Depot in the Arts District of downtown Los Angeles. SCI-Arc also offers community events, such as outreach programs, free exhibitions, and public lectures.

Admissions & acceptance rate

How selective is this institution, and how many admitted students choose to enroll?

Applied
748
748 candidates competed
Admitted
573
Enrolled
40
7.0% yield

Graduation rate & outcomes

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

Overall completion
71%+10.0pp vs peer
4-year graduation
0%
6-year graduation (bachelor’s)
71%
Full-time retention
91%

Pell equity

75.0pp gap
Pell recipients
25%
Non-Pell
100%

Non-Pell students graduate at a 75.0-point higher rate than Pell recipients.

Tuition & cost

What families actually pay, broken down by family income.

Net price by family income

Aid exceeds costFamily pays
$0–30k$42,890
$30–48k$42,269
$48–75k
$75–110k
$110k+$24,769

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

Avg net price (private)
$37,535
+$17,736vs peer median $19,800
Federal loans
22.8%
In-state tuition
$53,564
Out-of-state
$53,564

Academic programs at Sciarc

Top program areas ranked by completions.

Distinct CIP programs6
UndergraduateOffered
GraduateOffered

Top program families by completions

211 total
01Architecture
18085.3%
02Comm. Technologies
2110.0%
03Education
62.8%
04Natural Resources
41.9%

Enrollment trends & demographics

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

Fall total
418
12-mo unduplicated
611
Undergraduate
248
Graduate
363

Gender split

Men
59%359
Women
41%252

Race / ethnicity composition

Non-resident
55.1%
White
14.8%
Hispanic
12.7%
Asian
11.9%
Two or more
3.4%
Black
1.7%
Unknown
0.4%

Student-faculty ratio

Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.

Student-to-faculty
9.0:1
Instructional staff (full-time equivalent)
40

Sciarc vs Peer comparison

The peer institutions Sciarc 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
SubjectSouthern California Institute of Architecture
71%418$37,535
American College of the Building Arts
55%44.4%155$26,389
Ana G. Mendez University
8,378
Antioch University
486
Bank Street College of Education
719
College Unbound
494$19,116
Conway School of Landscape Design
17
Epic Bible College & Graduate School
0%78.6%98
Future Generations University
48
Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine
610
High Tech High Graduate School of Education
99
Institute of World Politics
173
Martin Luther College
72%87.2%878$20,483
Reiss-Davis Graduate School
35
Relay Graduate School of Education
1,324
Sofia University
1,145
The Chicago School at Xavier University of Louisiana
20
The School of Architecture
8
University of Fort Lauderdale
0%368$15,245
VanderCook College of Music
67%89.5%323$17,094
Peer group median61%82.9%346$19,800

Reports & documents (1)

Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.

Notable alumni of Sciarc (17)

A curated list of alumni recognized for notable achievements across industries.

  • Barbara Bestor
    Architecture
  • Sue Courtenay
    Architecture
  • Wanda Dalla Costa
    Architecture
  • Jon Drezner
    Architecture
  • Jeffrey Eyster
    Architecture
  • Todd Fisher
    Architecture
  • Moses Hacmon
    Architecture
  • Shelly Kappe
    Architecture
  • Gordon Kipping
    Architecture
  • Ola-dele Kuku
    Architecture
  • Cara Lee
    Architecture
  • Karen M'Closkey
    Architecture
Showing 112 of 17
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