Art Academy introduces loan repayment assistance program

Pursuing a degree in the arts has long come with a difficult trade-off: follow your creative path, or take on debt that may feel uncertain to repay. With a new initiative, the Art Academy of Cincinnati is working to change that equation.

AAC, a private art college established in 1869, will introduce a loan repayment assistance program for all new and transfer students beginning in fall 2026. The program, offered at no cost to students or families, helps repay student loans if a graduate earns less than $50,000 a year. 

The support continues until income rises above that threshold or the loans are paid off.

“We want our students and families to know that an investment in an Art Academy education comes with a promise – not just of academic and creative excellence, but of real support after graduation,” said Joe Girandola, the school’s president. “The AAC Advantage reflects our confidence in the long-term value of a degree from the Art Academy of Cincinnati.”

Helping dollars makes sense

AAC is partnering with Ardeo Education Solutions, a public benefit company, to offer the repayment assistance. The program covers federal student loans, parent PLUS loans and private alternative loans for graduates whose earnings fall below the $50,000 threshold.

Ardeo has worked with more than 200 colleges and universities to provide loan repayment assistance programs to their students since 2008.

At the Art Academy, the new program will complement its existing Four Year Tuition Promise, which guarantees tuition will not increase for undergraduate students over four years. AAC remains the first and only private art college in the country – and one of only a few institutions in Ohio – to offer that guarantee. Full-time undergraduate tuition is $38,625 per year.

The repayment assistance program applies to the incoming students in 2026 and future students. Current AAC students will continue under existing tuition and financial aid structures.

Art Academy officials noted that its tuition and fees are already about 18 percent lower on average than other independent art and design colleges in the region, and the average student currently covers about 63 percent of costs through financial aid, according to the college.

But they also stressed the need to make attending the Over-the-Rhine-based even more affordable for students given the financial realities facing the world.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the median income for artists and related professions in the United States is a little more than $56,000 per year. Though, median salaries are considerably higher for those who’ve taken on related leadership roles such as art directors, for example. 

To that end, beyond the repayment assistance, AAC is expanding and highlighting several scholarship programs:

• The Tri-State Creative Scholar Award, offering an additional $10,000 scholarship over four years to eligible students from Ohio, northern Kentucky and southeastern Indiana.
• The Cincinnati Public Schools Scholarship, awarding one Pell-eligible CPS senior full tuition and fees for four years.
• The Vision Scholarship, offering one full tuition and fee award for a Pell-eligible, first-generation college student, along with additional renewable $3,000 annual awards for eligible applicants.

Coupled with AAC Advantage, these financial programs help give prospective students, and their caregivers, reassurance that higher education makes good financial sense, said Katie Brenner Wolf, the college’s executive director of enrollment and student success. 

AAC will host an open house Nov. 15 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at its Jackson Street campus, where prospective students and families can learn more about the AAC Advantage, the Tuition Promise and scholarship opportunities. Registration is available at artacademy.edu/events.

“While we believe the value of an AAC education and creative impact goes far beyond financial outcomes, we understand that student debt is a concern for many families,” Brenner Wolf said. “The AAC Advantage helps ease that burden and lets our students focus on their creative futures with confidence.”