Consumer Information
Consumer Information and Required Disclosures
The Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, as amended, requires institutions participating in the Title IV financial aid programs to disclose specified information to all current and prospective students and employees. Listed below is a summary of the consumer information subject areas.
SAIC Executive Director of Student Financial Services Michael Shields manages the distribution of this information upon written request. Please contact mshields2@saic.edu if you have any questions or want to request additional information.
Accreditation
Admissions and Academic Information
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See the numbers below to learn about the diversity among the School of the Art Institute of Chicago's (SAIC) student body. This information is maintained by Director of Enrollment Analytics and Forecasting Kyle O'Connell in Enrollment Management.
Fall 2024
- Total Enrollment: 3,395
- UGRD: 2,806
- GRAD: 589
- Female: 76%
- Male: 24%
- Full-Time Pell Grant Recipients: 462
- INT students: 29%
- Countries represented: 82
- African American: 5.9%
- American Indian: 0.1%
- Asian or Pacific Islander: 9.4%
- Hispanic: 12.7%
- Multiethnic: 4.1%
- Not Specified: 4.1%
- White: 34.7%
- Midwest (not including Chicago): 17.3%
- West: 15.1%
- Northeast: 12.6%
- South: 13.2%
- Chicago 7.5%
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The information presented below is required by the Student Right-to-Know Act as amended by the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA). Institutions are required to disclose their graduation rate information for first-time freshmen who graduate within six years of starting their studies. The current rate for the School of the Art Institute of Chicago is 67 percent. This information does not include transfer, exchange, or special certificate students for whom the graduation rate is much higher. This information is maintained by Director of Enrollment Analytics and Forecasting Kyle O'Connell in Enrollment Management.
The first-year retention rate of first-time, full-time bachelor’s degree-seeking students entering the institution during the fall 2023 period as reported to IPEDS is 82 percent.
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Artists, Designers, and Scholars as Teachers
SAIC’s faculty members are artists, designers, scholars, influencers, and innovators. They are mentors and educators, but equally, peers and collaborators. Our faculty offer real-world insight because they are experienced practitioners who have been in your position before.
They know what it’s like to re-evaluate their work and explore the idea of being an artist, a designer, and a scholar. And they are passionate about informing the process from conception to execution through unabashed discourse and critique.
View faculty profiles (searchable by Academic Department and/or Name)
2023–24 SAIC Degree Program Faculty
- 151 Full-time Faculty
- 632 Part-time Faculty
- 783 Total Faculty in Fall and Spring semesters
Faculty Breakdown by Position- 55 Professors
- 65 Associate Professors
- 21 Assistant Professors
- 10 Full-time Visiting Artists
- 151 Full-time Faculty
- 50 Professors, Adjunct
- 95 Associate Professors, Adjunct
- 69 Assistant Professors, Adjunct
- 214 Total Adjunct (ranked) Part-time Faculty
- 418 Lecturers, Senior Lecturers, Professors Emeriti
Faculty Race/Ethnicity- 0.1% American Indian/Indigenous or Alaska Native
- 9.2% Asian
- 7.5% Black or African American:
- 6.8% Hispanic/Latinx
- 0.0% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
- 5.0% Multiracial
- 71% White
- 0.4% Unspecified
Cost and Financial Assistance
Code of Conduct for Education Loans
Cost of Attendance: Graduate and Undergraduate
Criteria for Continued Student Eligibility
Criteria for Adjusting Aid Amount
Criteria for Selecting Recipients and Determining Award Amount
Eligibility Requirements
Federal Loan Entrance and Exit Counseling Requirement and Information
Federal Work-Study Conditions and Terms
Financial Aid Advances to Obtain/Purchase Books and Supplies for Federal Pell or Other Eligible Students
Financial Aid Satisfactory Progress Policy
General Financial Assistance Information
Loan Repayment Sample Schedule and Necessity for Repayment
Method and Frequency of Disbursements
Net Price Calculator
Procedure and Forms
Refund Policy
Return of Aid
Study Abroad
Terms of Federal Loans
SAIC does not participate in preferred lender arrangements.
Affiliate Entities
The information below relates to exchange programs available to SAIC students through affiliate entities and is being provided in accordance with the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended by the Program Integrity Regulations passed on October 29, 2010.
In general, the affiliate entities listed in the chart below deliver educational programs in a manner similar to that of SAIC (i.e., classroom work, direct instruction, and studio time). SAIC will provide all portions of the educational programs not otherwise provided by the affiliate entities listed.
Except as otherwise noted, students taking classes at any of the entities listed below will pay tuition to SAIC at SAIC's regular rate, with no additional tuition fees payable to the entity (host school) unless mandated for a particular class (e.g., studio fee). The student will be responsible for all ancillary costs and expenses associated with taking classes at an affiliated entity (e.g. airfare, ground transportation, visas, campus accommodations and meals, health insurance and related charges.)
DETERMINED AS OF 9/20/2024.
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Schools to which we currently send/host students for study abroad.
* Student pays SAIC's usual tuition with no additional tuition fees to host school unless mandated for a particular class (e.g., studio fee). Unless otherwise noted, quoted amounts exclude expenses for visa fees, air and ground transport, living expenses, exchange rate fluctuations, health insurance coverage, and on-campus or off-campus accommodation, which may vary according to location, airline, and time of travel.
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As a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD), SAIC participates in the AICAD Exchange Program. This program gives students the opportunity to maintain enrollment at SAIC while studying at any number of AICAD schools located throughout the United States and Canada. Participation is limited to one semester only and not all AICAD member schools accept exchange students. For more information on individual AICAD schools, visit aicad.org.
** Student pays SAIC's usual tuition with no additional tuition fees to host school unless mandated for a particular class (e.g., studio fee). Unless otherwise noted, quoted amounts exclude expenses for air and ground transport, living expenses, health insurance coverage, and on-campus or off-campus accommodation, which will vary according to location, airline, travel distance and accommodation choice.
AICAD exchange program is resumed for Academic Year 2024/2025. Following AICAD schools will participate in the exchange:
United States
ArtCenter College of Design (Pasadena, California)
Art Academy of Cincinnati (Cincinnati, Ohio)
California College of the Arts (San Francisco, California)
Cleveland Institute of Art (Cleveland, Ohio)
College for Creative Studies (Detroit, Michigan)
Columbus College of Art and Design (Columbus, Ohio)
Cornish College of the Arts (Seattle, Washington)
Kansas City Art Institute (Kansas City, Missouri)
Laguna College of Art and Design (Laguna Beach, California)
Maine College of Art & Design (Portland, Maine)
Maos Angeles, California)
Pacific Northwest College of Art - Willamette University (Portland, Oregon)
Ringling College of Art & Design (Sarasota, Florida)ryland Institute College of Art (Baltimore, Maryland)
Massachusetts College of Art & Design - MassArt (Boston, Massachusetts)
MIlwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIlwaukee, Wisconsin)
Minneapolis College of Art & Design (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Otis College of Art & Design (Los Angeles, California)
Pacific Northwest College of Art - Willamette University (Portland, Oregon)
Ringling College of Art & Design (Sarasota, Florida)
Canada
Alberta University of the Arts (Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
Emily Carr University of Art + Design (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)
Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada)
Ontario College of Art and Design University (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
Singapore
LASALLE College of Art (Singapore, Singapore)Lesley College of Art and Design USA Cambridge -
Frequent sites for outgoing SAIC study abroad students—not exchange partners.
*** Student pays SAIC's usual tuition with possible additional tuition fees payable to host school depending the difference between SAIC's and the host school's tuition fees, currency exchange rates, and the number of credit hours taken. Unless otherwise noted, quoted amounts exclude expenses for visa fees, air and ground transport, living expenses, exchange rate fluctuations, health insurance coverage, and on-campus or off-campus accommodation which can vary according to location.
Policies and Resources
2024–25 Bulletin
Accommodations for People with Disabilities
Acceptable Use for Network and Computing Resources
Affiliate Entities
Annual Security and Fire Safety Report
Career and Professional Experience
Copyright Infringement
Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act Amendment
Facilities
Grades
Immunization Policy
Intellectual Property Policy
Non-Discrimination Statement
Requirements for Withdrawal
Student Activities
Student Handbook
Student Records Policies/Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA)
Textbook Information
Title IX Coordinator
Title IX Policy
Voter Registration and Constitution Day
Protection of Student Privacy
Peer-to-Peer File Sharing
Post-Graduation Activities
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Outcomes represent 472 out of 708 alumni who completed their bachelor’s degrees one year after graduation, a 66.6% knowledge rate.
- 80% are employed (377 alums)
- 13% are continuing their education (62 alums)
- 93.9% career outcomes
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Outcomes represent 209 out of 281 alumni who completed their master’s degrees one year after graduation, a 74.4% knowledge rate.
- 85.6% are employed (179 alums)
- 8.6% are continuing their education (18 alums)
- 94.3% career outcomes
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Pass rates for the last five years for SAIC graduates who have taken the exam for the purpose of board certification with the Art Therapy Credentials Board.
2022 2023 The number of SAIC graduates who are credentialed with the Art Therapy Credentials Board for the past 9 years.
Teacher Preparation Program Report: 2024 Title II Report Card
Types of Graduate and Professional Education in Which the Institution’s Graduates Enroll
[Not yet available]
The data posted here is similar in concept to the IPEDS Completions component. The Completions component is a measure of students who graduated together and is centered on the calendar year of graduation. However, exclusions is a concept that applies to Graduation Rates and Graduation Rates 200 components. The Graduation rates components measure time to completion for incoming Full-Time FF from when they arrive on campus through graduation. Mandatory military service for some international students is by far the most common reason SAIC uses for marking an exclusion. Permanent medical disability and death are cited, but much less frequently. There are only two other allowable reasons for exclusion and those are participation in a foreign aid service or participation in a church mission.
Student Complaint Procedure
Students may file a complaint by following the complaint procedures outlined in the student handbook.
Online students residing in a SARA state* should attempt to resolve grievances through SAIC's institutional process for filing a complaint. If a student is not satisfied with the outcome of SAIC's process, the complaint (except for those involving grades or student conduct violations) may be brought to the Illinois Board of Higher Education. For more information regarding the complaint process for students residing in SARA states, please visit the SARA website.
Students may also file a complaint with SAIC's accrediting agency, the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) by following the HLC complaint procedure.
*SAIC is an institutional participant in the State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement (SARA). SARA is a voluntary agreement among member states and U.S. territories that establishes comparable national standards for interstate offering of distance-education courses and programs. SARA membership includes all states (and the District of Columbia), except California. Click here to learn more about SARA.
Filing a Complaint with an Accrediting Agency and Relevant State Agencies
Federal Program Integrity rules issued by the U.S. Department of Education require institutions to provide to students or prospective students contact information needed to file a complaint and with relevant state agencies.
For a link to state agency information for all 50 states, D.C. and Puerto Rico, please click on the following link: State-by-State-Complaint.
Illinois Board of Higher Education
431 E. Adams, 2nd floor
Springfield, IL 62701-1404
info@ibhe.org
Institutional Complaint Hotline: 217.557.7359
Institutional Online Complaint Link: https://complaints.ibhe.org/
Illinois Attorney General
Consumer Fraud Bureau
500 S. Second St.
Springfield, IL 62706
illinoisattorneygeneral.gov
Consumer Fraud Hotline: 800.243.0618
Higher Learning Commission
230 S. LaSalle St., Suite 7-500
Chicago, IL 60604-1411
For students receiving GI Bill Benefits:
benefits.va.gov/gibill/feedback.asp
Contact Us
Michael Shields
Executive Director, Student Financial Services
Email: mshields2@saic.edu
Phone: 312.629.6600