Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design

Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design logo
#11571 / #3056
Global Influence / U.S. Influence
College that specializes in Art/Design located in Colorado

Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design at a Glance

U.S. influence rank
#3056
Tuition and fees (2025–26)
$20,190
Graduation rate
37%
Undergraduates (fall 2024)
2,050

Reviewed by , Vice President and Academic Editor. Influence ranks come from our InfluenceRanking™ methodology; other figures come from federal data, with the year shown under each section. Report an error

Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design Featured Rankings

About Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design

According to Wikipedia, The Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design is a private for-profit art school in Lakewood, Colorado. The college was founded in 1963 by Philip J. Steele, an artist and teacher. History RMCAD was established in 1963 by Philip J. Steele, an artist and educator. In January 1963, Phillip J. Steel purchased the Art for All Studios school from Dorothea Seeley Shulenburg . Steele renamed the school "Rocky Mountain School of Art" as a proprietorship and later incorporated the school on September 11, 1972. The college relocated several times as it increased enrollment. In 2003, the college moved from its three-building Denver location to its current and larger location in the suburb of Lakewood. In 2010, a group of investors who own Full Sail University purchased a controlling share of the college from the Steele family, and began an initiative to restructure the college and curriculum. In 2014, amidst a turnover of a significant number of key faculty, RMCAD rescheduled its in-person campus courses to align with the scheduling of online classes, and to cut costs moved most liberal arts courses on line. Currently, RMCAD is affiliated with Full Sail University.

Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design's Online Degrees

BFA in Animation
  • Required Credits: 123
  • Format: Fully online
BFA in Fashion Design
  • Required Credits: 123
  • Format: Fully online
BFA in Game Art
  • Required Credits: 123
  • Format: Fully online
BFA in Illustration
  • Required Credits: 123
  • Format: Fully online
BFA in Illustrative Design
  • Required Credits: 123
  • Format: Fully online
BFA in Interior Design
  • Required Credits: 123
  • Format: Fully online
BFA in Photography
  • Required Credits: 123
  • Format: Fully online
MA in Education Media Design-Technology
  • Required Credits: 34
  • Format: Fully online
BFA in Art Education
  • Required Credits: 123
  • Format: Fully online
Graduate Certificate in Instructional Design Certificate
  • Format: Fully online
Graduate Certificate in Teaching With Technology
  • Format: Fully online

Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design Admissions, Retention, and Graduation Information

Retention RateGraduation Rate
54%37%

Source: U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and NCES); acceptance rate for fall 2024; test scores for fall 2024; applications and enrollment for fall 2023; retention for students who started in fall 2023; graduation rate within six years for students who started in 2019.

How Much Does Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design Cost To Attend?

Tuition and fees (in-state)
$20,190
Average Net Price by Family Income (2024–25)
IncomeAverage Net Cost
0 - 30K$30,428
30K - 48K$30,129
48K - 75K$31,468
75K - 110K$36,470
110K+$38,010

Source: U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and NCES); tuition and fees for 2025–26; net price for 2024–25, for first-time, full-time students receiving financial aid.

How Much Do Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design Graduates Make?

Ten years after starting college, former Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design students who received federal financial aid earn a median of $45,764 a year, and 86% of those not still in school are working.

Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard; students who started college in 2011–12 or 2012–13, measured in 2022 and 2023, in 2024 dollars.

Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design's Demographics

Students enrolled at any time during the 2023–24 school year, including part-time and online students.

Student BodyUnder-Grads
2,9552,955

Source: National Center for Education Statistics; 12-month enrollment for 2023–24.

Where is Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design?

Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design is located at 1600 Pierce St, Lakewood, CO 80214.

How Safe is Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design?

No violent or property offenses were reported on Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design’s campus in 2024. Its figures can also be looked up in the U.S. Department of Education’s Campus Safety and Security database.

Relative to its enrollment, Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design has a violent crime rate of less than 0.01% and a property crime rate of less than 0.01%. Lakewood has a violent crime rate of 0.80% and a property (including theft) crime rate of 5.17%. Sources: campus: U.S. Department of Education Campus Safety and Security data, on-campus offenses in 2024 (violent: murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault; property: burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson, which excludes ordinary theft); city: FBI Crime Data Explorer, offenses reported to the city police in 2024.

What Is Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design Known For?

Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design is known for its academic work in the following disciplines:

Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design's Top Areas of Influence With Degrees Offered

Each rank compares how much Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design's faculty and alumni have shaped a field with other schools, using Wikipedia, Wikidata and scholarly citation databases such as Crossref and Semantic Scholar. World and U.S. ranks reflect modern influence; the historical rank counts influence across all time. How we rank influence

Education
#11768
World Rank
#11773
Historical Rank
#3172
USA Rank

Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design ranks #3172 in the U.S. and #11768 worldwide for influence in Education.

education Degrees
Computer Science
#12192
World Rank
#12199
Historical Rank
#3377
USA Rank

Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design ranks #3377 in the U.S. and #12192 worldwide for influence in Computer Science.

computer-science Degrees