Offering both undergraduate and postgraduate programs in the arts, California College of the Arts will soon transition from two campus locations to a single one. The new campus will foster interdisciplinary exploration, with shared studio spaces and adjacencies between the fashion, textile arts, interiors and interaction programmes. Within the school’s curriculum there is an emphasis on design philosophy and sustainable practices. As a result, students rated courses in sustainability and technical skills highly, however courses in marketing and business were rated in the lowest quartile in our survey. According to statistics provided by the school, only about 20 percent of students participate in internships while pursuing their degree. However, 90 percent of graduates felt prepared for the industry.
48th
Undergraduate, Fashion Ranking 2016
Full-time fashion students
65
International students
20%
Student : Teacher ratio
15:1
Average ratio at the classroom level
Tuition: Domestic/intl
$42k/$42k
Acceptance rate
41%
Graduation Rate
40%
Courses Offered
Undergraduate:
Fashion Design, Jewelry/ Metal Arts, Textiles
Student & Alumni Comments
"It was pleasant but didn't offer enough relevant industry courses to prepare me for the workplace, but it has a superb sustainability program."
"The fashion programme was young, but I saw the work that was put into the programme to build its depth every year I was there. I would have liked more internship opportunities or a semester internship programme to build the valuable connections and skills that are not easily taught in school."
"The programme was good at developing more creative design/construction skills, but lacked any computer teaching. I think that would have been a very helpful skill to learn considering most entry level design jobs are going to be a lot of computer work. I think the sustainability emphasis in the programme was really great."
"Very strong academic and conceptual focus, very little to offer in terms of career prep. Missing basic skills like creating tech packs or general business info."
Full Undergraduate, Fashion Ranking
The Business of Fashion's global fashion school rankings aim to provide an objective assessment of the top undergraduate and graduate fashion programmes around the world.