California College of the Arts has enhanced the graduate-student experience:

• development of new award-winning graduate studios and facilities
• the augmentation of our stellar faculty body with new tenure-track faculty and international visiting artists
• the growth of new graduate programs that provide a deep interdisciplinary dialogue for all students

We have also built many bridges with Bay Area companies and organizations to pave the way to your career after graduation.

CCA's faculty, administration, and staff expect you to be deeply engaged not only within your program but also with the other resources at the college as well as with the remarkably creative community that surrounds us.

With great anticipation, your families, friends, and campus community are preparing to welcome and support you for this important milestone.

New Graduate Student Orientation will be on a Moodle online course. Completion of the online new student orientation is required prior to attending in-person Welcome Week and the start of the semester. Incoming students will receive a notification to your CCA email address with log-in information. The Chimera Welcome Week schedule will be available on the portal on August 1st.

[ONLY GRADUATE STUDENTS] In order to confirm your participation to Chimera Welcome Week 2023, please complete this form.

Step 1: Read the Admitted Graduate Students' Webpage

• The 10 Easy Steps to Enrollment contains comprehensive information regarding financial aid, health insurance, and more.

Step 2: Read Student & Program Technology Requirements

• All incoming students are required to own an external storage device and laptop that meets CCA’s minimum system requirements, outlined on the Student Technology Requirements page. Students who know their intended major should purchase the laptop and external storage device specific to their programs, listed on the Program Technology Requirements page.
• Access to software for classroom-use such as Moodle, Mural, and VoiceThread can be found on the Student Software page and project-specific software like Adobe, Autodesk, Rhino and many other titles on the Creative Software page.

Step 3: Determine Health Insurance Eligibility

• Health Insurance
  • All students who are registered in 12 or more units per semester (9 units per semester for all graduate students) are considered full-time students. They are, therefore, required to have health insurance coverage.
  • The college has secured a group health insurance policy (an Aetna PPO plan) that provides year-round coverage.
  • Part-time students are ineligible for CCA student health insurance.
• Waiving Student Insurance
  • You may waive CCA's coverage by submitting an online waiver application before the end of the add/drop period.
  • A student's own health insurance must meet minimum coverage requirement to qualify for an approved waiver.

Step 4: Read the Student Handbook

• The Student Handbook serves as a guide to the programs, policies, procedures, requirements, and resources of CCA.
• Students are strongly encouraged to read the entire handbook.

Step 5: Join Graduate Student Alliance (GSA) on Facebook & follow Office of Student Belonging & Inclusion (OSBI) on IG

• Graduate Student Alliance (GSA) directors are fellow students who play an integral role in advocating and funding events for the graduate student community.
• Add "CCA GSA" to your Facebook page and get connected with other current CCA graduate students.
• OSBI IG: @ccaosbi

Questions

Email orientation@cca.edu more info about graduate student orientation.

Contact your desired graduate program directly for program-specific information.