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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

Exterior of CCA's entrance and main quad with students milling around.
#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.

Explore graduating student thesis work at end-of-year events.

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.

Explore graduating student thesis work at end-of-year events.
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Hand drawn yellow spiral

Student work

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Layla Namak
Urban Analysis, El Campo de la Cebada
Architecture

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Lufan Yang
Rest stop 1, interior render 3
Architecture

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Tonghe Ge
OwnWay
Design

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Chibuzor Darl-Uzu
SOFT MATTER
Design

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PJ Parker
Proceed with Caution, Recall with Care
Fine Arts

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Yelyzaveta Vlasenko
Gray Fangs
Fine Arts

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Lindsey Machado
Humanities & Sciences (Ecological Practices)

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Furdeuce Mused
Seeing the Unseen
Humanities & Sciences

E x p e r i e n c e

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.

Attend programming
The exterior of the Wattis Institute with three people about to enter.

Explore the CCA Wattis

Student life

Illustration Chair Michael Wertz attends the Hello Trouble Exhibition at CCA's Campus Gallery.
A diverse group of people celebrating Holi, joyfully adorned with vibrant colors and paint on their faces.
A group of people gathered around a table, engaging with a colorful spinning wheel in the center.
Three student musicians perform on CCA's campus.
A group of students creating artwork by pressing painted hands onto a large vertical canvas.
Person with blue and white skull face paint applies makeup to another person indoors, with face paint supplies and reference images on the table.
Two students pose for photos at CCA's Making Futures celebration.
A CCA student DJ mixes music on a laptop at the Making Futures celebration.
A student drummer performs during CCA's Making Futures celebration.
People gather around a table displaying various items, engaged in conversation and examining the objects.
A student stands behind a display of handmade ceramics arranged on shelves and crates at a booth.

C o n n e c t

Our creative community makes a living by changing the world.

Honey Mehta candidly working on a computer.

Meet Honey Mehta (MDes Interaction Design 2023)

CCA did not feel like a school. It felt like an incubator for real-world impact and real-world projects.

Watch now

Purposeful practices

A project for the The 2024 Bethel Woods Art and Architecture Festival by Martin Francis Hitch.

MArch Architecture 2023

Martin Francis Hitch

Architectural rendering showing three views of the fashion house

BFA Interior Design 2025

Nitya Sanjana Reddy Cheruku

Colorful illustration of layers of people interacting with each other.

BFA Illustration 2018

Asia Kang

Portrait of Ajuan Mance against a pop art background.

Faculty

Ajuan Mance

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

A t t e n d

Come learn to make work that makes a difference.

May 01

Deadline to confirm attendance and submit enrollment deposit

Admitted undergraduate students should confirm attendance and submit the $300 enrollment deposit for the fall semester by this date.

May 01

Graduate deadline to confirm attendance and submit deposit

Admitted graduate students must confirm attendance and submit the $500 enrollment deposit for the fall semester by this date.

Sep 01

Undergraduate application available

Apply for admission to CCA for spring 2026 or fall 2026 terms.

Sep 01

Graduate application available

Apply for admission to CCA for fall 2026.

Oct 01

Undergraduate spring priority deadline for first-year and transfer students

Deadline for first-year and transfer applicants to submit applications for spring semester to guarantee consideration for institutional scholarships.

An abstract, teal blob.
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A yellow, abstract flower, shaped like a daisy.
A green, abstract, starburst-shaped object with unevenly protruding arms on a white background.