We used a college financial specialist during our search and they had a database of all their clients and what their aid packages were. They didn’t have a ton of data on RISD, but in general the school did not offer much $ so we were prepared for the ‘worst’.
From our understanding of past aid packages and seeing on this board, our DD got lucky and received a yearly scholarship of $28,200 plus the usual federal $5.5k aid and $2k work study (for a total of $35,700 per year). Our family’s EFC at the time was about $17k. DD still had to take out a loan (since let’s face it that EFC isn’t money we actually have just lying around!), but not so large as to make this an illogical choice.
I have some of the #s from the other schools she applied to for comparison if you’d like. Also this is not a ‘mom brag’ but to add background info - she had Ivy League level ACT scores, a load of APs, killer average, quirky mix of art and community activities etc in addition to what I assume was a solid portfolio.
Hope this info helps!