California College of the Arts Overview
Located in San Francisco, California, California College of the Arts is a private not-for-profit institution. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life.
What Is California College of the Arts Known For?
- Students at California College of the Arts may have an easier time interacting with their teachers since the student to faculty ratio at the school is 8 to 1.
- The 4% student loan default rate at California College of the Arts is better than the national rate of 10.1%. That's a good sign that you may be able to pay off student loans easier than your peers at other schools can.
- The highest award offered at California College of the Arts is the master's degree.
- In 2017-2018, 24% of the faculty were full-time.
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California College of the Arts Rankings
Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.
Program Level Awards
These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at California College of the Arts.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards California College of the Arts has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#3 | Highest Paid Master’s Degree Design & Applied Arts Graduates | College Factual |
#21 | Highest Paid Master’s Degree Visual & Performing Arts Graduates | College Factual |
#22 | Best Visual Communications Schools | College Factual |
#24 | Highest Paid Film, Video & Photographic Arts Graduates | College Factual |
#41 | Best Graphic Design Schools | College Factual |
#76 | Best Design & Applied Arts Schools | College Factual |
Where Is California College of the Arts?

Contact details for California College of the Arts are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | 1111 Eighth Street, San Francisco, CA 94107-2247 |
Phone: | 510-594-3600 |
Facebook: | http://www.facebook.com/CaliforniaCollegeoftheArts |
Twitter: | http://www.twitter.com/CACollegeofArts |
How Do I Get Into California College of the Arts?
You can apply to California College of the Arts online at: www.cca.edu/admissions/apply
Admission Requirements for California College of the Arts
Submission | Required? |
---|---|
High School GPA | required |
High School Rank | neither required nor recommended |
High School Transcript | required |
College Prep Program | recommended |
Recommendations | required |
SAT or ACT Scores | neither required nor recommended |
TOEFL | required |
How Hard Is It To Get Into California College of the Arts?
Approximately 26% of accepted students are men and 74% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 81%, and the acceptance rate for women is 87%.
Can I Afford California College of the Arts?
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.
Student Loan Debt
It's not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At California College of the Arts, approximately 33% of students took out student loans averaging $6,286 a year. That adds up to $25,144 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at California College of the Arts is 4.3%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.
California College of the Arts Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are also 373 graduate students at the school.
Gender Diversity
Of the 1,162 full-time undergraduates at California College of the Arts, 38% are male and 62% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of California College of the Arts students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 212 |
Black or African American | 61 |
Hispanic or Latino | 168 |
White | 191 |
International Students | 462 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 68 |
Geographic Diversity
California students aren't the only ones who study at California College of the Arts. At this time, 25 states are represented by the student population at the school.
Over 67 countries are represented at California College of the Arts. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, India, and South Korea.
Online Learning at California College of the Arts
The following chart shows how the online learning population at California College of the Arts has changed over the last few years.

Online Affordability Rankings of California College of the Arts
The following table shows how California College of the Arts is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.
Major | Tuition for In-State Students | Tuition for Out-of-State Students |
---|---|---|
Visual & Performing Arts | #67 | #67 |
Online Growth Rankings of California College of the Arts
The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at California College of the Arts was 535.3%. This is the #156 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at California College of the Arts regardless of major.
When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.
California College of the Arts Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
Major | Bachelor’s | Master’s | TOTAL |
---|---|---|---|
Design & Applied Arts | 156 | 44 | 200 |
Fine & Studio Arts | 55 | 27 | 82 |
Human Computer Interaction | 34 | 33 | 67 |
Graphic Communications | 45 | 11 | 56 |
General Architecture | 26 | 16 | 42 |
Film, Video & Photographic Arts | 26 | 6 | 32 |
Business Administration & Management | 0 | 23 | 23 |
Writing Studies | 3 | 8 | 11 |
Woodworking | 8 | 0 | 8 |
Museum Studies | 0 | 4 | 4 |
Other Visual Art | 0 | 0 | 0 |
TOTAL | 353 | 172 | 525 |
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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