🎓 College profile
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
NY · Private nonprofit · Large city · 1,790 applicants 2023
🎯 Parent/student verdict
Strong targetSelective but achievable for strong students. Affordable on average — net price runs around $13,269/yr.
✅ Best for
- Strong academic profile (SAT 1400–1520 · ACT 33–34 middle 50% + typically a 3.9+ unweighted GPA in rigorous coursework)
- Students focused on Engineering (the school's signature program)
- Families wanting a small liberal-arts experience
🎯 The reality
- Bottom-quartile academic profile if: SAT below 1400, or ACT below 33, or unweighted GPA below ~3.80 (admitted-class quartiles; GPA floor is a calibrated heuristic where CDS not yet on file)
- With selective universities, build a balanced college list of Reaches, Targets, and Safeties ⓘ
Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price by income, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.
🏛️ Institutional snapshot
What kind of college is this?
Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.
📊 Outcomes & cost
What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.
Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).
💰 True ROI
15.8× returnWhat families actually pay (after aid) vs. the sticker — and how 10-yr earnings stack against the real cost. Most sites quote sticker; we quote what families really pay.
"True ROI" = (10-yr median earnings × 10) ÷ (actual 4-yr net price). The actual net is from Scorecard (average across all families); your family's net price will vary by income — see the breakdown above. Earnings are 10 years after enrollment (Scorecard PP-FOS, all majors combined).
💰 What families actually pay
Net price by family income
Net price = sticker price minus grant aid. This is what families actually pay out-of-pocket after scholarships and need-based aid — the most honest affordability signal there is. At The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, the average net price is $13,269/yr across all families.
🔎 Earning over $110K? The federal brackets above lump every family from $110K to $1M+ into one row.
Need-based aid usually phases out somewhere between $200K and $300K at private colleges — but the exact threshold varies a lot. For a precise estimate based on your family's actual income, assets, and your student's academic profile, use The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art's official Net Price Calculator:
Get your family's estimate from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art →Opens on The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art's site. Takes about 10–15 minutes; have your most recent tax return handy.
Source: College Scorecard (NPT41-NPT45). Net price = total cost of attendance minus federal, state, institutional, and other grants. Some brackets may be suppressed for student-privacy reasons (small cohorts). Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates only. The $110K+ ceiling is a federal data limitation — Department of Education hasn't refreshed these brackets since the early 2010s.
📚 What students study here
Most popular majors at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art actually graduates — not just what it markets.
Source: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a), bachelor's-level first majors aggregated to 2-digit CIP family. Share is of these top 5 only — not all majors.
💼 Top programs by earnings
Highest-earning majors at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major (CIP code). From the federal College Scorecard program-level outcomes.
| Major (CIP) | Credential | Cohort | 1-yr earnings | 4-yr earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | 31 | — | $139,068 |
| Civil Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | 18 | — | $108,466 |
| Chemical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | 23 | — | $100,191 |
| Fine and Studio Arts. | Bachelor's Degree | 62 | $16,678 | $24,920 |
For full college-vs-major comparison + ROI leaderboards, see /college-outcomes →
⚖️ Compare side-by-side
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