California College
of the Arts
Private College in San Francisco, CA. Six-year graduation rate 61%. Median 10-year earnings $49,414.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $49,414 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. Six-year completion sits at 61%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Debt is the pressure point: a median of $27,000 at graduation.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.9 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
Admission is not the constraint here: 91% of applicants are accepted. 2,371 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. Only 8% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at California College of the Arts →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 61%, meaning about two in five students who enroll leave without finishing. 87% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. That gap between coming back and finishing is where this school loses people — after the first year, not during it. A 8:1 ratio points to small classes and accessible faculty. As a private nonprofit four-year college, the relevant comparison is other four-year schools rather than the national average across all institutions.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,044 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price — what students actually pay after grant aid — is $46,823 a year, at the high end of undergraduate cost. The gap between the $0–30k and $110k+ bands is narrow ($61,407 versus $56,394), meaning aid is not strongly need-weighted. Grant aid is widespread — 86% of students receive it, averaging $29,702. About 49% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 182 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $61,407 |
| $30–48k | $43,261 |
| $48–75k | $45,378 |
| $75–110k | $46,060 |
| $110k+ | $56,394 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 511 of these 1,044 students, totalling $3,666,578 — an average of $7,175 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (San Francisco County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)