Kansas City Art Institute vs Bard College

Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) and Bard College stand out as two distinct institutions offering unique educational experiences. KCAI, a private art and design college, boasts a highly selective admissions process with an acceptance rate of 58%, while Bard College, a private liberal arts college, maintains a more accessible acceptance rate of 60%. KCAI's student body is predominantly comprised of art and design enthusiasts, while Bard College attracts a diverse range of students pursuing various academic interests. Both institutions offer a vibrant campus life, with KCAI's urban setting in Kansas City providing ample opportunities for artistic exploration and Bard College's rural location in New York fostering a close-knit community. To help you make an informed decision, we've compiled a comprehensive comparison table highlighting key differences between these two esteemed institutions, including popular majors, student demographics, graduation rates, and more.

	Bard College	Kansas City Art Institute
Overview
Location	Annandale-On-Hudson, New York	Kansas City, Missouri
Campus setting	Town: Fringe	City: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	87.0%	74.0%
Common app member	No	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	59.9%	60.0%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $50 Graduate: $65
SAT range	N/A	N/A
ACT range	N/A	N/A
Students submitting SAT score
Students submitting ACT score
Total number of applicants	5,167	897
Total number of admissions given out	3,096	538
Admitted students who chose to enroll	473	206
Yield rate	15.3%	38.3%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Not required	Required
Recommendation letters	Required	Not required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$72,868	$52,075
Average net price	$24,318	$27,274
Tuition	$57,498	$39,975
Room & board	$16,760	Room/dormitory: $8,700 Meal plan: $3,425
Available payment plans	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	79.0% Average amount $50,598	99.0% Average amount $26,787
Students receiving federal student loan	49.0% Average amount $5,101	76.0% Average amount $4,963
Students taking out private loans	2.0% Average amount $16,225	14.0% Average amount $16,562

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	2,171 Men 44.4% Women 55.6%	726 Men 25.9% Women 74.1%
Graduate students	420 Men 40.2% Women 59.8%	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Low
Out-of-state students	N/A	N/A
International students	14.7%	0.8%
Campus local/setting	Town: Fringe	City: Large
Dormitory capacity	1,400	229
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	N/A	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Liberal Arts Visual & Performing Arts Business Education Natural Resources and Conservation	Visual & Performing Arts Communications Technology English Language and Literature
Students to faculty ratio	9:1	9:1
Institutional accreditation	Middle States Commission on Higher Education	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	70.6%	62.1%
Dropout rate	9.9%	17.2%
Transferred out	18.3%	20.7%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $45,261 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature/Letters, Other (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $19,624 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Biological and Physical Sciences (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $30,818 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Social Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $24,172 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Fine and Studio Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $17,518 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Fine and Studio Arts (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $38,944 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Music (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $27,353 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $51,051 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A	Design and Applied Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $21,327 Year 2: $27,947 Year 3: $39,160 Film/Video and Photographic Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $15,126 Year 2: $27,476 Year 3: $28,754 Fine and Studio Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $19,245 Year 2: $22,715 Year 3: $28,248 Graphic Communications (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $15,235 Year 2: $20,140 Year 3: $23,530 Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $25,580 Year 3: N/A

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