Loading…
← All schools
California College of the Arts
San Francisco, CAprivate nonprofitwww.cca.edu/
Acceptance
91%
Avg net price
$53,909
Earnings (10 yr)
$49,414
Graduation rate
61%
Admit rate has ranged 76%–91% over the last 5 years — notably volatile. Source: IPEDS via Urban Institute.
Acceptance & SAT from Common Data Set / IPEDS; net price, earnings & graduation from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. Figures lag ~1–2 years — verify with the school.
California College of the Arts (CCA) is a scrappy, hands-on art and design school in San Francisco where creativity meets activism. With an acceptance rate hovering around 91%, it's accessible compared to elite art schools, but its graduates face middling earnings—median $36,427 a year post-graduation. The school shines in animation, illustration, and interactive design, with a campus culture that's more studio-intensive than rah-rah collegiate.
Admission requirements
Test-blind — scores not considered
Required
- High school transcript
- Grade point average
- Letters of recommendation
- Demonstrated competencies
- TOEFL (non-native English)
Considered (not required)
- College-prep program
Source: IPEDS Admissions survey (2022) via Urban Institute. Covers formal factors only — it does not reflect essays, extracurriculars, or other holistic criteria.
More details
- Undergrad enrollment
- 990
- In-state tuition
- $60,226
- Out-of-state tuition
- $60,226
- Top Majors
- Animation, Illustration, Interactive Design
- Acceptance Rate
- 91.1% (2024)
- Graduation Rate
- 61%
- Grad Students Receiving Aid
- 89%
- Median Earnings 1 Year After Graduation
- $36,427
Outcomes & value
Outcomes & value
- Median earnings (10 yr)
- $49,414
- Value (earnings ÷ net price)
- 0.9×
- Median debt at graduation
- $27,000
- Graduation rate
- 61%
- First-year retention
- 87%
- Reducing loan balance (3 yr)
- 63%
- Pell (lower-income) share
- 66%
- First-generation share
- 24%
- Endowment / student
- $43,062
Financial health
2.3 / 3.0Meets the federal financial-responsibility standard
U.S. Dept. of Education Financial Responsibility Composite Score (FY2022-23). Scale −1.0 to 3.0; ≥1.5 meets the standard. Reported for private nonprofit & for-profit institutions only — public universities are state-backed and not scored, so this is a stability signal, not a ranking.
Top-earning majors
Median earnings by field of study (highest credential), ~2 years after completion.
- Architecture$50,231
- Design and Applied Arts$39,860
- Graphic Communications$30,409
- Fine and Studio Arts$15,552
Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (field-of-study earnings). Figures cover graduates who received federal aid and lag ~2 years; not all programs report data.
Campus & location
Campus safety
- On-campus violent crimes (2024)
- 0
- Per 1,000 students
- 0.00
On-campus criminal offenses classed as violent (murder/non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, aggravated assault) for the most recent reported year. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education Campus Safety and Security (Clery Act). Counts reflect what’s reported to the school, and urban campuses often report more partly due to non-student incidents nearby — read alongside campus size and setting, not as a standalone safety verdict.
Climate
- Pleasant days / yr
- 198
- Summer high
- 66°F
- Winter low
- 46°F
- Annual rain
- 23.6"
- Natural-hazard risk
- Very High
Pleasant days counts days per year with a mean temperature of 55–75°F, a high at or below 90°F, a low at or above 45°F, and little precipitation — a transparent comfort measure, not a weighting we invented. Computed from Open-Meteo ERA5 daily history (2019–2023). Natural-hazard risk is the county’s composite rating from the FEMA National Risk Index.
Deep dive — research, future-scholar output & economic mobility
Research output
- Institutional h-index
- 40
- Scholarly works
- 418
Institutional research volume and impact from OpenAlex. The h-index reflects large research universities and will be low for teaching-focused liberal-arts colleges — not a measure of undergraduate quality.
Economic mobility
- Mobility rate
- 0.9%
- Bottom → top quintile
- 11%
- From bottom quintile
- 8%
Mobility rate = the share of students who both start in the bottom household-income quintile and reach the top quintile; bottom → top is that chance conditional on starting at the bottom. Source: Opportunity Insights Mobility Report Cards (Chetty, Friedman, Saez, Turner & Yagan). Reflects 1980–82 birth cohorts, so it’s directional, not current.
Quick answers
- What is the acceptance rate at California College of the Arts?
- California College of the Arts's acceptance rate is approximately 91% (San Francisco, CA), based on the most recent figures we compiled from public and primary sources.
- How much does California College of the Arts cost?
- At California College of the Arts, the average net price (after aid) is about $53,909 per year. Actual cost varies with financial aid and residency.
- How many undergraduates attend California College of the Arts?
- California College of the Arts enrolls approximately 990 undergraduate students.
- Where is California College of the Arts located?
- California College of the Arts is located in San Francisco, CA.
Admissions
CCA is one of the more accessible art schools, with a 91.1% acceptance rate for undergraduates in 2024 (2,160 admits from 2,371 applications). The middle 50% of admitted students have GPAs around 3.34, SAT scores near 1160, and ACT scores around 24—far less cutthroat than elite conservatories like ArtCenter or RISD. Notably, 89% of graduate students receive institutional aid, suggesting stronger funding for advanced programs.
Academics
CCA leans into applied creativity with top programs in animation, illustration, and interactive design—fields where its Bay Area location gives students proximity to tech and gaming industries. The curriculum emphasizes social impact, framing art and design as tools for equity and ecological justice. Unlike traditional liberal arts colleges, there’s no Greek life or football team; the vibe is studio-centric, with students often working late hours in maker spaces. Comparisons to ArtCenter or Pratt often hinge on CCA’s approach to design education.
Compare California College of the Arts
See colleges similar to California College of the Arts →Sources
- Facts & Figures | CCA - California College of the Arts
- California College of the Arts - Data USA
- Common Data Set: Home
- [PDF] Common Data Set 2022-2023 - ArtCenter College of Design
- [PDF] Common Data Set 2022-2023 - Financial Services
- CCA Acceptance Rate - Study at California College of Arts
- California College of the Arts Requirements for Admission
- California College of the Arts Admissions - U.S. News & World Report
- California College of the Arts - BigFuture
- California College of the Arts - Tuition and Acceptance Rate
