The action-oriented

art, design, and architecture

school in San Francisco

A r t

D e s i g n

A r c h i t e c t u r e

W r i t i n g

F i l m

C r a f t

C o m m u n i t y

P l a y

S t o r y t e l l i n g

I n t e r a c t i o n

#1 art school in the nation ROI #1 best undergraduate art school by salary potential 83% of all students receive scholarships 100% of faculty are active practitioners 7:1 student to faculty ratio

California College of the Arts cultivates ideas, industry, and impact in the progressive San Francisco Bay Area, educating our students as global changemakers through purposeful practice and critical discourse.

Relive the fun of our Making Futures Opening Weekend Celebrations.

Experience

All are welcome at CCA, where diverse cultures, practices, and ideas merge.

Looking at the back of CCA's main building through newly planted trees.

Tour Campus

A crowd of people at CCA's end-of-year Design and Architecture Show.

Public Programming

Maker Simpson Family Building lit up in the evening.

Futures of CCA

Connect

Our creative community makes a living by changing the world.

Video still of Annika Bastacky's performance art.

Annika Bastacky (MFA Design 2020)

“Professionally, I’m an experience designer, but I moonlight as an artist, a performer, and a speculative designer.”

Watch now

Purposeful practices

BFA Painting & Drawing 2024

Faye Vavra

BFA Interior Design 2017

Joyce Choi

BFA Ceramics 2019

Eleni Berg

BFA Animation 2021

Babak Saadat

TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER ASIA’S OLDEST BIENNIAL BLINDFOLDED WHEEL THROWING AGING AGAINST THE MACHINE JAPANESE AESTHETICS STACKED SKINCARE KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE HUBS ARE HUMANS THE ONLY DREAMERS ON EARTH?

KNITTED FILM SCENES DIGITAL SUBMARINE HABITATS THE FUTURE IS HERE ALGAE MASK HOW TO HAVE AN AMERICAN BABY NON-HIERARCHICAL DIALOGUE ANIMAL DREAMS FIRE ROAD MATERIAL TECHNOLOGY INDIGENOUS ECOLOGICAL PRACTICES

IMPROVE YOUR ART STAMINA GREEN TOYS LIMESTONE SINKHOLES CARDBOARD JETPACK CALL THIS # NOW RADICAL ARCHITECTURE JAPAN&SEOUL&MEXICO&ICELAND&LONDON&PARIS MAIDU GOVERNANCE SLOW BEETHOVEN

Attend

Come learn to make work that makes a difference.

Nov 15

First-year fall early action deadline

First-year applicants must submit an application by this deadline for an early response from CCA. Applications received by this date will automatically be considered for merit scholarships.

Dec 15

Spring Extension registration opens

Jan 15

Graduate application priority deadline

Deadline to submit an application for institutional scholarship consideration and admission for the following academic year. Applications received after this date will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Feb 01

First-year fall priority deadline

First-year applicants must submit an application by this deadline to guarantee merit scholarship consideration, including eligibility for Visionary Practice Scholarships.

Mar 01

Transfer fall priority deadline

Transfer applicants must submit an application by this deadline to guarantee merit scholarship consideration, including eligibility for Visionary Practice Scholarships.

A yellow, abstract flower, shaped like a daisy.

A green, abstract, starburst-shaped object with unevenly protruding arms on a white background.