Laguna College of Art and Design

Private · Moderately Selective · CA

Photo: Mixtus (CC BY 4.0)

School data & stats

TypePrivate

LocationCA · West

SettingRural

Undergrads746

Student:faculty9:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate34.5%

6-yr grad rate51.7%

Drop-out rate15.8%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$38k

Out-of-state tuition$38k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity60.2%

Gender diversity75.1%

International5%

Identity—

Overview

Laguna College of Art and Design is a small, independent art college in Laguna Beach, California, a longtime art-colony town on the Orange County coast. It focuses entirely on visual-arts training rather than a broader liberal-arts curriculum.

Academics

The college is known for rigorous, foundation-heavy training in representational drawing and painting, an emphasis that has become less common at art schools that have shifted toward more conceptual or digital-first curricula. Game art and animation have grown into other strong areas, giving the school a split identity between traditional fine-arts training and contemporary entertainment-industry pipelines.

Campus & student life

The Laguna Beach setting puts studios within walking distance of the beach and the town's gallery and art-colony scene, and the town's artistic identity carries directly into student life and inspiration.

Getting in

Admissions require a portfolio, as at any specialized art college, with technical drawing ability and demonstrated commitment to visual art weighed heavily alongside academic record.

After graduation

Painting and drawing graduates often pursue gallery and fine-art careers or teaching, while game-art and animation graduates have a pipeline into Southern California's entertainment and gaming industry.

Worth knowing

The emphasis on rigorous representational training before moving into more conceptual or digital work is a defining, somewhat old-school feature that distinguishes Laguna from many contemporary art schools.

lcad.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate94.3%

Enrolled mid-50%—

Test policynot used

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

AdmissionRolling

Applying