Nashville's Vanderbilt University will acquire CCA's expanded San Francisco campus and its former Oakland properties, operating the San Francisco location as a satellite campus for approximately 1,000 students, including art and design programs.
"This was not a decision we reached lightly, and we expect there may be feelings of shock, frustration and disappointment," CCA President David Howse wrote in a message posted on the college's website. "After nearly two years of working to resolve the college's underlying financial challenges, we know this is the necessary step to take."
The closure follows years of mounting financial pressures, including a $20 million deficit and enrollment that plummeted by one-third from its 2019 peak of around 1,800 full-time students. Last fall, just 207 undergraduate and 117 graduate students began their studies at CCA.
The announcement leaves the Bay Area without a private art and design school, though several major universities in the region—including UC Berkeley, Stanford and San Francisco State—offer fine arts programs.
Students on track to graduate by the end of the 2026-27 academic year—numbering 484, according to local reports—will be able to complete their degrees. CCA officials said they are working with accredited institutions to establish transfer pathways for students whose coursework extends beyond spring 2027.
The college's contemporary art center, the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, will continue operating as part of a "CCA Institute at Vanderbilt," which will also maintain the college's archives and engage with its alumni network. Notable CCA graduates include contemporary artists Jules de Balincourt, Toyin Ojih Odutola and Hank Willis Thomas.
