The College of Art adheres to the guiding ideology of "having professional expertise, entrepreneurial ability, development space and employment advantages", and cultivates high-skilled specialized talents in art design to serve the needs of local cultural and economic construction. The college offers three undergraduate programs, namely Visual Communication Design, Environmental Art Design, and Digital Media Art, as well as three junior college programs, namely Advertising Art Design, Digital Media Art Design, and Character Image Design (Film and Television Makeup). Among them, the Advertising Art Design program is a key construction program in Shanghai. At present, there are more than 2,900 students in the entire college.

The college strives to consolidate the foundation of teaching, closely link with off-campus training bases, and improve the quality of education. There are currently 96 full-time teachers (20 with senior professional titles, 22 with doctoral degrees, 98% of teachers with master's degrees or above, and 76% of "dual-qualified" teachers), and 90 part-time teachers from industries and enterprises. It has received honors such as the municipal-level Excellent Course, outstanding Teaching Team, outstanding teaching master, and outstanding Teaching Achievement of Shanghai Higher Vocational Colleges. The college actively builds the "Comprehensive Innovation Teaching Practice Platform for Art Majors" and the "Cultural and Creative Transformation Workshop". The teaching and training venues and conditions for each major have reached the first-class level among similar domestic institutions. Over the years, the college has attached great importance to the cultivation of students' vocational skills and innovation abilities. It has won numerous national, provincial and municipal awards in professional skills competitions, including over a hundred first prizes at the national level.

The college has been vigorously promoting the construction of courses related to China's fine traditional culture. It has established the "Jinshan Peasant Painting Master Studio of Intangible Cultural Heritage" and the "College Students' Workshop". In 2018, it was awarded the titles of "Intangible Cultural Heritage Education and Inheritance Demonstration Base" and "Traditional Skills Inheritance Demonstration Base" by the Ministry of Education, integrating intangible cultural heritage into the college students' art design course system.

The college also widely conducts international exchange activities. It has launched the "4+1" program with the Berlin Institute of Media Design in Germany, the "2+1+2" program for junior college and the "3+2" program for undergraduate studies with Kyoto University of Information Science in Japan, and has also collaborated with Baekseok University, Myongji University and Hosi University in South Korea. Cooperation and exchange with Osaka International University, Osaka University of the Arts, Kurume University, Beppu University, Kyushu Sangyo University and other institutions in Japan. At the same time, various opportunities for students to study abroad for further education and to pursue a bachelor's degree after obtaining an associate degree are provided.