Welcome to the Office of Finance

The Cornish College of the Arts Office of Finance helps to advance the College’s mission by ensuring the institution’s fiscal integrity. Finance staff develop and steward the budgeting, accounting, and reporting procedures and systems that support the College’s educational goals. On this page you will find our recent tax reporting forms (990s) and other related information and resources.

Cornish College of the Arts is a 4-year undergraduate educational institution designated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Forms 990

2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020

How are tuition dollars spent?

Data from 5/31/19 Audited Financial Statements

Functional Expenses

Program Expenses	$20,210,182 (84%)
Management + General	$3,380,811 (14%)
Fundraising + Development	$593,625 (2%)
Total	$24,184,618

Operating Expenses by Function

Instruction	$15,621,637 (65%)
Institutional Support	$3,974,432 (16%)
Academic Support	$3,064,366 (13%)
Student Services	$694,452 (3%)
Auxiliary Services	$829,731 (3%)
Total	$24,184,618

Operating Expenses by Category

Salaries, Wages, Benefits	$13,922,100 (58%)
Services (including Housing + Meals)	$3,592,713 (15%)
Depreciation + Amortization	$1,758,514 (7%)
Other Operating Expenses	$1,577,892 (7%)
Scholarships + Grants	$1,377,618 (6%)
Interest	$1,014,951 (4%)
Rentals	$582,809 (2%)
Materials + Supplies	$245,226 (1%)
Provision for Doubtful Accounts	$112,795 (0%)
Total	$24,184,618

HEERF CARES ACT

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSAA) Act and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act funds the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF I/II/III) grants at Cornish College of the Arts and provides emergency financial assistance to eligible students who are experiencing hardship due to the coronavirus that could adversely affect their educational success.

Cornish College of the Arts’s CARES/CRRSAA/ARP Institutional Agreement and Assurance (PDF) states that it will use $316,407 in CARES, $316,407 in CRRSSA, and $806,541 in ARP funds to provide emergency financial aid grants to students.

Emergency Student Awards

Cumulative Information

Table	HEERF I	HEERF II	HEERF III
Federal Act	CARES	CRRSAA	ARP
Total CCA Award	$316,407	$316,407	$806,541
Total Eligible Students	553	443	428
Total HEERF Awarded*	$316,407	$316,407	$406,625
Total Students Receiving Monies*	518	400	428
Average Total Student Award*	$611	$791	$950

Quarterly Information

	6/30/20	9/30/20	12/31/2020	3/31/21	6/30/21	9/30/21	12/31/21	3/31/22	6/31/22
Total HEERF Awarded to Students	$316,407	$0	$0	$316,407	$0	$0	$406,625
Total Students Receiving Funds	518	0	0	400	0	0	428
Average Total Student Award	$611	$0	$0	$791	$0	$0	$950

*as of 12/31/2021

Fall Quarter 2021

The American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act makes emergency financial aid grants available to eligible students experiencing exceptional need. If approved for funding, students can apply grant monies towards their cost of attendance and/or towards other emergency costs that have arisen as a result of the coronavirus. Funds are disbursed directly to students and not to the student’s account.

Eligibility for ARP Act Funds:

Eligibility was determined by receiving a roster of active students from Registration Services, who were currently enrolled in Fall 2021. From this list, due to new guidance from the Department of Education, all students will qualify for HEERF III funds. Therefore, there was no need to remove DACA or international students.
Based on the current active student list, a review was completed to verify the list of students who submitted a 2021-22 FAFSA and qualified for federal financial aid, these students were eligible for the funding. From here, students were broken down into EFCs category, where students with the lowest EFC qualified for the largest funding. Also Cornish, only allocated half of their HEERF III funds for the Fall 2021 semester, the remaining half will be disbursed to students actively enrolled in Spring 2022.
The breakdown is as follows: 0 EFC students received $TBD, 1-5711 EFC; these are the Pell-eligible students who received $TBD, 5712 to 16,000 EFC these are students who qualify for need-based aid work study funds received $TBD, and lastly 16,001+ EFC, international, or students who did not submit a FAFSA received $TBD, which amount was calculated by taking the remaining HEERF funds and equally dividing it between the remaining students. This methodology was approved by to ensure the new criteria were met to give priority to our neediest students. A secondary review was completed to ensure accuracy.
Students who submitted a WASFA will qualify for the same funds as students who submit a 2021-22 FAFSA. Please see the methodology above.

Note to Students:

A third round of CARES ACT funding is currently anticipated to be disbursed directly to students in October. These funds are a grant for your assistance, not a loan that you will need to repay. Your CARES ACT distribution is received by Cornish and must be immediately refunded in full directly to you, regardless of the remaining tuition or payment plan balance due. It is your option to then use the funds to pay for tuition, but Cornish cannot automatically apply the balance toward your student account. The amount of your CARES ACT distribution is determined by your federal aid eligibility per your 2021-22 FAFSA information.