ArtCenter College of Design

Legal name: Art Center College of Design

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
951921340
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Pasadena, CA, USA
Phone
6263962200
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Undergraduate College (4-year)

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$177,263,410
Expenses
$155,357,867
Assets
$427,748,901
Liabilities
$157,259,831

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

41 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KAREN HOFMANN (PRESIDENT/CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • KAREN HOFMANN (PRESIDENT/CEO): $627,725 total reported compensation
  • TOM STERN (SVP, ENROLLMENT MGMT/STUDENT AFFAIRS): $326,012 total reported compensation
  • ANNE BURDICK (PROVOST): $314,323 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to educate, inspire, and empower creative and design leaders. ArtCenter will lead with degree programs that directly respond to industry needs, while expanding extended studies to support creative professionals throughout an entire career. Outcomes will be supported by data and insights. Creating a Resilient Foundation We will continue to evolve the campus for the future, focusing on people, place, technology and experiences. By optimizing operational efficiency and building financial reserves, we will ensure sustainability, agility and the ability to reinvest in what matters most in protecting the student's experience.

What it reported doing in 2024

The college operates an independent, four-year curriculum to educate artists and designers in communication arts and industrial design. The college offers a bachelor of fine arts degree in six majors (creative direction; film; fine art; graphic design; illustration; and photography and imaging) and a bachelor of science degree in five majors (entertainment design; interaction design; product design; spatial experience design; and transportation design). Graduate programs lead to the master of fine arts degree in: film; art; media design practices; and graphic design. The graduate programs that offer the master of science degree are: furniture, lighting & fixtures; spatial experience design; industrial design; and transportation systems and design. Two graduate programs award an online master of design (mdes) degree in brand design and strategy and interaction design. All expenditures relate to academic instruction, program support and operation of the college. The fte enrollment for july 2024 to june 2025 was approximately 2,188 (fall 2024), 2,068 (spring 2025) and 768 (summer 2025) students.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 82% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 80% for direct work, and 20% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 70
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.8%; rating input score 85
  • Program expense ratio: 93.6%; rating input score 94
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.95 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.7%; rating input score 95; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 96.3%; rating input score 96; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12.4%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.75; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.37; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.4%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
  • Where the money goes: 84.8% of revenue deployed · 93.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 26 of 27 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $145.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $628K · 41 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $19.9M reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 40 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 13 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 44/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 48/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 49/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.