California College of the Arts Courses & FeesSan Francisco, USA

Our two-year, low-residency MBA in Design Strategy program (DMBA) is a graduate business program with five four-day residencies held each month of a semester. Set against the backdrop of the Bay Area, a region known for its unshakeable belief in a better world, the MBA in Design Strategy trains future leaders to question, listen, and put human needs at the center of decision-making.

This is uniquely possible at an art and design college, where we recognize systems are made—not given—and operate with the optimism that systems can be made better. We do much more than analyze balance sheets and come up with marketing plans; we imagine alternate futures and then build them. At its core, the DMBA is about innovation and reinvention. Our pedagogy lends itself to opening the conversation to more voices, rather than maintaining the status quo.

In CCA’s two-year MA in Curatorial Practice, you’ll work closely with faculty mentors—and collaborate with fellow students—to develop the intellectual, analytical, and practical skills needed to pursue a range of professional paths in curating contemporary art.

The program positions the curator as a researcher, advocate, and ally who understands context as a means of articulating connections among artists, artworks, ideas, information, and audiences. Curatorial Studies students acquire the knowledge and tools provided by museum studies, exhibition studies, or arts administration programs, but they are also encouraged to work creatively, think critically, and imagine a practice beyond the current boundaries of the art world. We ask students to challenge the assumptions and inequities on which museums and other arts institutions have been built and to envision how cultural producers might work together to foster new models for the future.

At CCA, all animation is a process of experimentation. Our program’s collaborative environment encourages students to learn from one another, deepen their understanding of character and emotion, and hone their technical expertise. With guidance from animation artists and industry professionals, you’ll learn how to make 2D animation, 3D animation, animation for video games, stop-motion animation, and more.

The Bachelor of Architecture program empowers students to be resourceful makers, thinkers, collaborators, researchers, and agents for change. We’re a five-year, STEM-designated, NAAB-accredited (National Architectural Accrediting Board) professional degree. We’re also housed within one of the best art and design colleges in the country. Our students work across a range of media and collaborate with makers in other creative disciplines—such as interaction design and ceramics—to develop cutting-edge solutions and spark debate.

Ceramic art at CCA incorporates a wide range of disciplines, including printmaking, sculpture, and glass. Students learn to develop an intensive studio practice that incorporates many different perspectives, materials, and techniques.

Under the mentorship of our award-winning faculty, including Nathan Lynch, Arthur Gonzalez, and Nancy Selvin, students embrace risk-taking and master fundamental skills—drawing, sculpture, design, and research—that will prepare them for lifelong careers as ceramists.

Comics is a visual literary medium that has a deep history, specific craft demands, and exciting new possibilities as the industry grows. CCA’s BFA in Comics focuses on narrative development, relationships between text and image, and visual storytelling to push the practice to new heights.

The curriculum includes training in narrative concepts and character development, illustration and design, critical scholarship, and professional practice. You’ll become a practitioner who merges these multidisciplinary powers to make comics that only you could create.

The BFA in Fashion Design is one of the most highly regarded fashion programs in the U.S. Located in San Francisco, the country’s West Coast technology hub, and with a long-time focus on sustainability, CCA Fashion Design exposes students to thought leaders and professionals who are working on the forefront of fashion, clothing, and material innovation.

Through small class sizes and individual mentorship, faculty are committed to helping you develop your own point of view formed by craft, sustainability, new technologies, and cross-­disciplinary collaboration. You’ll have access to analog, mechanical, and digital tools, both within the program and across the college, so you can build a range of skill sets for a fast-changing world.

As a film major at CCA, you’ll learn to master the fundamentals of filmmaking within a dynamic art school environment. Our program’s interdisciplinary culture, influenced by the college’s collaborative community and range of academic disciplines, challenges you to be creative and thought-provoking in your work. Our program’s world-class group of faculty supports the development of your personal style and artistic vision and encourages you to experiment and invent new approaches to filmmaking process and technique. You’ll graduate from the BFA Film program ready to forge exciting opportunities within the rapidly shifting landscape of contemporary cinema and media arts. Like CCA Film on Facebook for the latest updates.

With deep roots in the Arts and Crafts movement, the Furniture program prepares students for versatile careers in a rapidly changing landscape. We teach craft-based methods alongside digital fabrication methods, emphasizing innovation, sustainability, and collaboration. Students work closely with celebrated faculty to make full-scale sculpture and furniture in our wide range of studios and shops.

Launched fall 2021, CCA’s BFA in Game Arts prepares today’s students to create tomorrow’s games. From video games to extended reality and from tabletop games to digital, students can explore the full possibility of what games can be.

This fine-arts focused program is designed for students who want to push games into the future and develop an artistic practice that will constantly evolve through creativity and curiosity. Game Arts students learn more than just how to be a game industry professional, they learn how to be artistic leaders shaping the future of games and play.

You’ll learn to develop a unique creative practice that draws from traditional crafts, technical skills in glassmaking, and advanced digital tools. Known for our collaborative, experimental culture, we encourage you to work across disciplines. From ceramics to industrial design, you’ll learn to use material as a mode of expression and investigation.

Graphic Design at CCA is dedicated to conceptual exploration and practical problem solving. We teach students to become leaders in the field by emphasizing craft, creativity, and collaboration, and we encourage them to engage with pressing social issues and think critically about how their work shows up in the world.

The History of Art and Visual Culture program challenges you to think and write critically about the past, present, and future of visual culture. You’ll learn to analyze art objects and artifacts of pop culture from the perspectives of historian, theorist, writer, and maker. Positioned within one of the best art and design schools in the country, you’ll work alongside fine artists from many different disciplines, not to mention our renowned faculty, who frequently contribute to high-profile publications and curate exhibitions around the globe. Alumni leverage these connections and opportunities to lay the groundwork for their personal practices.

In the Illustration program, you’ll create images and objects that engage, challenge, and delight. Illustrators enliven narratives, explore personal histories, and contribute to discussions about larger societal issues through traditional and digital works. Our program’s position within a top art and design college invites robust cross-disciplinary study and provides you access to cutting-edge software and digital tools, print and painting studios, shops, labs, and a community of thinkers and makers eager to collaborate. By approaching illustration from many perspectives, you'll learn to bring unique ideas to life with originality and versatility.

The Individualized Studies (INDI) program is specifically for students whose work bridges media and disciplines that fall outside regular program structures. Open to students during their second year, INDI is self-directed. You’ll combine disciplines and develop unique pathways of inquiry as you navigate the many disciplines offered at the college, from architecture and design to fine arts and writing. Four required courses, an evolving artist statement, a rationale of study, and a self-managed graduation plan form the backbone of your INDI experience.

Industrial design students create beautiful, meaningful, and sustainable design solutions. With equal emphasis on design thinking and the craft of making, we challenge you to push material boundaries and identify unique opportunities. You’ll learn to master the entire design process, from iteration to validation, as you collaborate with classmates, renowned faculty, and leading industry partners.

Design at CCA thrives at the intersection of human experience and the built environment. The work we do—often called experience design, digital product design, and user experience design—impacts everything from vehicle dashboards that help us drive more safely to services that power our thermostats more efficiently. Our students imagine future mobile experiences, social networks, products and services, and complex systems while keeping equity, inclusivity, and sustainability at the forefront of design.

Interior Design is a four-year, accredited professional degree program. Our position within one of the top art colleges in the country, and within CCA’s Architecture division, makes us highly interdisciplinary. We have a particular focus on sustainable material practices and spatial innovation. Our students collaborate with interaction designers, industrial designers, ceramicists, glass artists, furniture makers, fashion designers, architects, and textile designers. They approach the design of built environments with equal emphasis on spatial and technical conditions.

The Jewelry and Metal Arts program, founded in 1912, is one of the oldest and most recognized in the field. You’ll explore a variety of processes for jewelry making and design through courses taught by nationally and internationally renowned faculty. Our location in the Bay Area gives us instant access to world-class museums and galleries, a large metalsmithing community, and materials suppliers.

We provide aspiring fine artists with a supportive community and rigorous culture of critique. Students develop their technical and conceptual skills in drawing and painting studios while sharing and debating ideas with faculty, peers, and visiting artists. With a broad notion of what fine arts can be in the world, and the opportunity to make all kinds of art objects, our students prepare for MFA programs as well as lifelong careers as practicing artists.