Vanderbilt University plans to open a new art college on the San Francisco campus in fall 2027.
Jul 21, 2026
Updated 11:48 am PT
California College of the Arts will continue to operate on its San Francisco campus until the end of the 2026–27 school year, when Vanderbilt University will take over the property. (Courtesy of CCA)
In January, when California College of the Arts announced it would close at the end of the 2026–27 school year, little was known about the fate of the recently expanded campus beyond the fact that Vanderbilt University had purchased it. Now, a $75 million matching donation looks to establish a new art college on the same site.
Current CCA faculty and staff also are not guaranteed positions at Vanderbilt.
The Huangs’ donation has so far led to more than $25 million in additional donations, including gifts from Vanderbilt alums. This is not the first time the Huangs have made donations to the site: in February 2025 their foundation contributed $22.5 million in matching gifts to CCA. Later that year, the school announced a partnership with Nvidia, as well as a $20 million one-time grant from the state.
All that was not enough to save CCA from financial collapse.
In today’s announcement, Vanderbilt reaffirmed its commitment to building on CCA’s legacy by “preserving and advancing CCA’s traditions of experimentation, collaboration and remaining deeply connected to the cultural life of San Francisco and the broader Bay Area.”
