by our College Data Analytics TeamA lot of students are not billed the advertised price of a school. Instead, they will be provided a financial aid package that will include a combination of scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study. The price tag of going to California College of the Arts can appear overpowering, but remember that the majority of students obtain some kind of financial assistance.
What financing options does California College of the Arts offer, and what will you qualify for? Keep scrolling for more information. Keep scrolling to discover just how much financial aid could be open to you.
The amount of financial aid you can receive varies from person to person and will depend on your family’s economic situation. The information provided on this page can help you determine how much aid you may receive from California College of the Arts.
Financial aid, in the form of loans, grants, work-study, and scholarships, is one way colleges reduce the cost of attendance so most students can actually afford to attend. Note that some aid is more valuable than the rest, and individual awards are far from uniform.
Looking at the entering class at California College of the Arts, 97% of first-year full-time students received aid of some kind around 177 incoming students).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 96% | $32,953 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 96% | $30,192 |
| Federal Pell grants | 30% | $5,943 |
| State/local grants | 19% | $3,607 |
| Federal student loans | 69% | $5,200 |
Unlike loans, grants and scholarships are gift aid that does not need to be paid back, making them the most desirable form of assistance. At California College of the Arts, approximately 84% of undergrads got grants or scholarships worth on average $29,676 (covering around 896 awardees).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 84% | $29,676 |
| Federal Pell grants | 25% | $5,914 |
| Federal student loans | 48% | $7,175 |
Among title-IV aid recipients living on campus, grant and scholarship aid averaged $25,867.
Need-based aid means lower-income families typically pay far less than the sticker price suggests.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $31,116 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $35,172 |
| Over $75,000 | $49,672 |
The numbers above are post-aid net prices, so they already account for grants and scholarships.
After grants and scholarships come off the published price, what remains is the net price — the best estimate of true out-of-pocket cost.
| Cohort | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| On-campus title-IV students | $53,909 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $42,168 |
For an estimate tailored to your family circumstances, see California College of the Arts’s NPC: www.cca.edu/admissions/tuition/#section-calculator.
A typical borrower at California College of the Arts leaves with $19,500 in federal loans.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $19,500 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $27,000 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $286.24/mo |
That monthly figure reflects the median graduate debt repaid on a standard 10-year federal schedule.
The numbers below show the full range, not just the middle of the distribution. The figures below chart the debt distribution at California College of the Arts.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,500 |
| 25th percentile | $12,000 |
| 75th percentile | $34,250 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $42,750 |
Median debt varies by family income, by first-generation status, and by dependency status.
Debt by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $23,875 |
| Middle income | $24,620 |
| High income | $14,460 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $23,750 |
| Continuing-generation students | $17,500 |
Dependent vs Independent Students
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,047 |
| Independent students | $29,250 |
These indicators are derived from the underlying debt data and summarize the overall picture at California College of the Arts.
Most undergraduate borrowing runs through the federal Stafford loan program. The annual Stafford volume below reflects program activity at California College of the Arts:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 5425 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $155,184,525 |
Veterans and active-duty service members may qualify for the Post-9/11 GI Bill or DoD Tuition Assistance.
GI Bill volume
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 16 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $480,568 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $30,036 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.