Kwang-Wu Kim, dean of the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University (ASU), will probably be the next president of Columbia College, Chicago.

Overall seven candidates were interviewed last month and two were finalised among them. However, one of the candidates dropped out for personal reasons, which makes Kim the only available candidate for the job.

The final announcement will be made next month.

If selected, Kim will become the 10th president and succeed Warrick Carter, who is retiring in August after serving the college for 13 years.

His new responsibilities will include strengthening degree programs, revamping tuition, changing open admissions policy and launching a capital campaign.

In addition, Kim would be managing 11,000 students and 3,000 faculty and staff members, much more than the 500 staff and 6,000 students at the Herberger Institute.

"Mr Kim has a great background in fundraising and obviously, we're looking for someone at Columbia to fundraise to help lower the cost (of tuition)," Matthew Case, a student representative on the school's board of trustees, told Chicago Business.

The CCC management was happy with Kim's initiative in raising $20 million for a digital media program at ASU.

Case hopes that Kim would implement similar plans at Columbia as well.

Kim, a native of Hyde Park, completed his bachelor's degree in philosophy, Yale University, and received a doctorate degree in musical arts, Peabody Institute, Johns Hopkins University.

Kim started his career with ASU in 2006 as dean of the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. Prior to ASU, he was the president of Longy School of Music of Bard College, Cambridge, Mass, and artistic director of El Paso Pro-Musica from 1993 to 2001.