California Institute of the Arts

Valencia, CA · Private

Official website

Navora's full analysis of California Institute of the Arts — where an applicant's profile stands against the published cohort, requirements tracking, essays and deadlines — is free with an account.

See the full analysis — free

Admission rate

California Institute of the Arts admitted 32.3% of applicants university-wide (648 of 2,004).

CohortAdmit rateAdmittedApplicants
University-wide32.3%6482,004
Men32.6%186570
Women32.2%3981,235

Also offers Early Action (closes Dec 1) — the Common Data Set doesn't publish EA admit counts.

Of 648 admitted students, 181 enrolled (27.9% yield).

California Institute of the Arts Common Data Set 2024-2025 · Sections C1–C2 · 2024Published cohort admit rates — context, not an applicant-specific probability.

Test scores and GPA of admitted students

GPA (mid-50%, 4.0 scale)
3.503.50

Testing policy: Test-blind (scores not considered)

California Institute of the Arts Common Data Set 2024-2025 · Sections C9–C12 · 2024Published admit stats reflect the entire incoming class unless explicitly labeled international-only.

Cost and financial aid

Published cost of attendance: $74,192/yr.

Out-of-state tuition$58,996
Fees, housing, food, books & other$15,196
Sticker cost of attendance$74,192/yr

Average net price by family income (US, federal aid data)

Under $30k$26,686
$30k–48k$40,899
$48k–75k$51,847
$75k–110k$38,627
Over $110k$58,873

U.S. Dept. of Education · College Scorecard — average net price by family income (Title IV, from IPEDS) · 2023

US applicants

Need- and merit-based aid available.

International applicants

No need-based aid reported for internationals.

California Institute of the Arts Common Data Set 2024-2025 · Sections G–H · 2024

Application requirements

US applicants

  • General Application
  • Portfolio or Audition
  • Application fee

International applicants

  • General Application
  • Portfolio or Audition
  • Application fee
  • English proficiency (IELTS/TOEFL)
  • GPA credential conversion
  • Predicted Class XII marksheet
  • Financial documentation (I-20)

California Institute of the Arts · Application requirements (official admissions pages) · 2025

Essay prompts

California Institute of the Arts requires essays, but this cycle's prompts haven't been posted yet. Check back once the application opens.

Prompts from the Own portal member feed · verified Jul 4, 2026

Graduate outcomes

Median earnings
$41,198
Median earnings · 10 years after entry
Graduation rate
66.7%
Within 150% of normal time
First-year retention
82%
Return for year two · CDS Section B
Median debt
$25,000
At graduation

California Institute of the Arts · U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (2023 release) · 2023Earnings and debt figures are federal data for aid-receiving graduates — cohort outcomes, not a guarantee for any individual student.

Published rankings

  • Forbes: #482

Academics and campus

Largest degree fields: Visual & performing arts (73%), Computer & information sciences (3%).

Student–faculty ratio: 7:1 · 78% of class sections have under 20 students.

California Institute of the Arts Common Data Set 2024-2025 · Sections E, F, I · 2024Published institutional figures for the reporting year — descriptive of the current student body, not a prediction about your experience.

Similar colleges