The California College of Arts found some relief from its financial troubles thanks to fundraising and Nvidia.
A fundraising organized by the California College of Arts (CCA) managed to raise $22.5 million thanks to 50 donors – most of whom were board members and trustees. The amount was then matched by Jen-Hsun ‘Jensen’ Huang – the CEO and co-founder of global tech giant Nvidia. This brought the total funds to $45 million. Jen-Hsun donated the funds via the Lori Huang Foundation – a charity organisation he founded.
Since the pandemic, the CCA had been in one financial mess or another. It faces a $20 million budget gap – which means it is lagging behind $20 million on its existing running costs. A one-third drop in enrolment since 2019 contributed to this situation. The CCA has an annual operating budget of $75 million; 85 percent of it comes from tuition and housing. For 2025, it is projected that the enrolment would drop to just 1,250.
Around the same time, the campus had an ongoing $123 million expansion project which was to add 82,300 square feet of studios, exhibition spaces, and classrooms. The CCA also recently settled a lawsuit with a former employee for an undisclosed amount. The employee had accused the administration of mishandling $180,000 of earmarked funds. To take some of the financial pressure off, the college had laid off 10 percent of its staff and removed another 4.5 percent of open positions.
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The funds generated from the fundraiser and the endowment of Nvidia might prove to be just what the institute needed to survive. David Howse, president of the college, called it a “transformational milestone”.
