The California College of the Arts, a fixture in the Bay Area arts scene for 119 years, will cease to operate as an independent institution. Nashville-based Vanderbilt University is set to take over the school and its San Francisco campus at the conclusion of the 2026-27 academic year, following years of financial instability at the historic arts college.
The college will not accept new students for the upcoming year as it prepares for the transition. The move marks a significant shift in the landscape of arts education in San Francisco, a city that has seen several of its legacy art institutions close or merge in recent years.
Key Takeaways
- California College of the Arts (CCA) will be taken over by Vanderbilt University after the 2026-27 school year.
- The decision follows a prolonged period of financial difficulty, including a $20 million budget deficit and declining enrollment.
- Vanderbilt will establish new undergraduate and graduate programs on CCA's San Francisco campus.
- The move is part of a larger trend of art school closures and consolidations in the San Francisco Bay Area.
A Legacy Institution Faces Financial Reality
The announcement was delivered to the college community through an internal email from CCA President David Howse. In the message, Howse outlined the severe financial pressures that made the decision unavoidable. He pointed to falling student enrollment as a primary driver, which he said exposed the vulnerabilities of a business model heavily dependent on tuition fees.
A long-standing structural deficit and shifting demographic trends further complicated the college's ability to sustain its programs and invest in future growth. This financial strain has been an ongoing issue for CCA. In 2024, the college invested $123 million to consolidate its operations onto a newly built campus in San Francisco's Design District, moving from its original Oakland location.
By the Numbers: CCA's Financial Struggle
- $123 million: Cost of the San Francisco campus expansion and consolidation in 2024.
- $20 million: The resulting budget deficit following the campus project and enrollment drops.
- $45 million: Emergency donations received in early 2026, including a major gift from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
Despite significant fundraising efforts, the financial gap proved too large to bridge. The college received $45 million in emergency donations last February, with half of that sum contributed by Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia. An additional $20 million grant from the state of California also provided a temporary reprieve. These funds were intended to be a lifeline, even sparking the development of a CCA-Nvidia Incubator for Creative Intelligence.
However, President Howse conceded that these efforts were ultimately not enough. “Ultimately, neither of these are enough to ensure CCA can continue to operate independently,” he stated in his email, describing the donations as a short-term solution to a long-term problem.
Faculty and Community React to Sudden News
For many faculty members, the news of the takeover came as a shock. One department chair confirmed that staff learned of the monumental change on Tuesday morning, just before the public announcement. The decision has sent ripples through the Bay Area arts community, which has already witnessed the demise of other key institutions.
Glen Helfand, a professor of curatorial practices at CCA for 23 years and an alumnus of Mills College, noted the unsettling parallels to another recent institutional loss. Mills College, an Oakland-based art school, was absorbed by Northeastern University in 2024 after facing similar financial and enrollment challenges, which led to the gutting of its arts programs.
“It seems like a flashback of that,” Helfand said, reflecting on the Mills College takeover.
Helfand mentioned that there had been vague discussions in staff meetings about “potential partnerships with another institution,” but he characterized the definitive announcement from Vanderbilt as a “surprise.” The loss of CCA as an independent entity adds to a growing list of closures that have reshaped San Francisco's cultural and educational identity.
A Troubling Trend for San Francisco Arts
The CCA takeover is the latest in a series of blows to the city's arts education sector. In 2022, the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI), a 151-year-old institution that fostered generations of influential artists, closed its doors permanently due to insurmountable debt. More recently, the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco announced in October it would leave its downtown location for a nomadic model.
City Hall Frames Takeover as Downtown Revitalization
While the arts community processes the loss, city officials are framing the arrival of Vanderbilt as a positive development for San Francisco's struggling downtown core. At a press conference at City Hall, Mayor Daniel Lurie presented the deal as a significant investment in the city's future.
“Vanderbilt’s decision to invest in our city is a powerful testament to the fact that San Francisco is on the rise,” Lurie stated. He revealed that the search for a university to expand into the city began about a year ago, with Vanderbilt emerging as the top candidate.
According to Lurie, his economic policy chief, Ned Segal, helped lead the effort to attract a major university. “We invited their leadership team. We walked them through our city and toward sites to help them think through what was possible,” he explained. The CCA campus, with its modern facilities, proved to be a more suitable location than other considered sites, such as the San Francisco Chronicle’s former newsroom.
The Future of the CCA Campus
Vanderbilt plans to establish a significant presence in San Francisco, with an estimated student body of approximately 1,000 students. Around 750 of these students are expected to live on campus, bringing new life to the Design District neighborhood. This is a slight reduction from CCA's current enrollment of about 1,300 students.
Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier confirmed that the university will honor CCA's legacy. Plans include operating a California College of the Arts Institute at Vanderbilt and maintaining the college's museum, the Wattis Institute of Contemporary Arts.
“As Vanderbilt establishes its presence, they will carry forward CCA’s legacy and continue the work of educating the next generation of creative leaders in our city,” Mayor Lurie added. He also announced a new fundraising campaign to support the school, though specific financial goals and donors have not yet been disclosed. Billionaire philanthropist Chris Larsen and other prominent business leaders were present at the press conference, suggesting strong backing for the new initiative.