by our College Data Analytics TeamCalifornia College of the Arts is a private not-for-profit institution in San Francisco, California enrolling 990 undergraduates. It accepts 91% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 61%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #1,035 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 20%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
California College of the Arts ranks #1,035 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 20%.
In its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.
College Factual ranked California College of the Arts as #1,035 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list.
California College of the Arts also holds the #121 spot on the Best Colleges in California ranking.
See all of the rankings for California College of the Arts.
With an acceptance rate of 91%, California College of the Arts is easier to get into than many other schools. But that doesn’t mean you can slack off on your application. Make sure to treat this school like any other when submitting requested materials and documents.
Learn more about California College of the Arts admissions.
The student to faculty ratio at California College of the Arts is an impressive 8 to 1. That’s quite good when you compare it to the national average of 15 to 1. This is a good sign that students at the school will have more opportunities for one-on-one interactions with their professors.
In addition to the student to faculty ratio, some people look at what percentage of faculty members are full-time as a sign of how much time professors will be able to spend with their students. This is because part-time teachers may not be on campus as much as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at California College of the Arts is 22%. This is lower than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate of 87% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like California College of the Arts enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.
Students are considered to have graduated on time if they finish their studies within four years. At California College of the Arts the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 61%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at California College of the Arts.
The current enrollment includes 990 undergraduates at California College of the Arts.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at California College of the Arts.
The average net price of California College of the Arts is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $61,407 | $43,261 | $45,378 | $46,060 | $56,394 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of California College of the Arts, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
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 48% of students took out student loans averaging $7,175 a year. That adds up to $28,700 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate 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. Get more details about paying for California College of the Arts.
Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor’s degree recipients from California College of the Arts make around $49,414 per year during the early years of their employment. This is right on par with the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year. Also, graduates in your major field may make more.
See which majors at California College of the Arts make the most money.
California College of the Arts is an private not-for-profit institution located in San Francisco, California. The surrounding area of the school is a good match for students who enjoy city life. Get more details about the location of California College of the Arts.
Contact information for California College of the Arts can be found below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 145 Hooper Street, San Francisco, CA 94107-2247 |
| Phone: | 4157039500 |
| Website: | www.cca.edu |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/CaliforniaCollegeoftheArts |
| Twitter: | www.twitter.com/CACollegeofArts |
In the most recent reporting year, students from 9 majors graduated from California College of the Arts. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 382 | NA |
| Design & Applied Arts | 86 | $56,341 |
| Human Computer Interaction | 73 | NA |
| Fine & Studio Arts | 62 | $26,750 |
| Graphic Communications | 60 | $16,698 |
| Architectural Sciences | 41 | NA |
| Film, Video & Photographic Arts | 20 | NA |
| Computer Software Applications | 16 | NA |
| Management Sciences & Methods | 12 | NA |
| Writing Studies | 9 | $42,206 |
Curious how schools stack up against California College of the Arts? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free tool for head-to-head college comparisons.
Footnotes
*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.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.