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2022 Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k

6 Ranked Colleges
239 Degrees Awarded
$33,000 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor's in California For Those Making $30-$48k

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

In 2019-2020, 1,944 people earned their degree in acting, making the major the 319th most popular in the United States.

Across California, there were 570 acting graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 239 acting graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking, we looked at 6 colleges that offer a degree in acting. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality acting programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the acting program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k

The colleges and universities below are the best for california bachelor’s degree acting students whose families make $30-$48k.

Top 6 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Acting (Income $30-$48k) in California

#1

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California
#1 in overall quality

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Southern California landed the #1 spot on the list. University of Southern California is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Los Angeles, California. It awarded 63 bachelors’s acting degrees in 2019-2020.

USC also made our “Best Acting Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #1. It costs about $16,252 for California Bachelor’s Degree Acting students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend USC.

With a freshman retention rate of 91%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.

Read more about Acting at USC

#2

Pepperdine University

Malibu, California
#3 in overall quality

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, Pepperdine University landed the #2 spot on the list. Pepperdine is a private not-for-profit institution located in Malibu, California. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 7 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree acting students whose families make $30-$48k list, Pepperdine has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Acting Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Pepperdine is $29,593 for california bachelor’s degree acting students whose families make $30-$48k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 1.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read more about Acting at Pepperdine University

#3

Chapman University

Orange, California
#2 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Chapman University. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k list. Orange, California is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s acting degrees to 15 students in 2019-2020.

Chapman also took the #2 spot in our “Best Acting Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Chapman is $31,826 for california bachelor’s degree acting students whose families make $30-$48k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low student loan default rate of 1.3% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Read more about Acting at Chapman University

#4

California Institute of the Arts

Valencia, California
#4 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California Institute of the Arts. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k list. CalArts is a private not-for-profit institution located in Valencia, California. The school has a small population, and it awarded 29 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

CalArts did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Acting Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for California Institute of the Arts is $42,784 for california bachelor’s degree acting students whose families make $30-$48k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.

Read full report on Acting at California Institute of the Arts

#5

Academy of Art University

San Francisco, California
#5 in overall quality

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, Academy of Art University landed the #5 spot on the list. Academy of Art University is a private for-profit institution located in San Francisco, California. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 27 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Academy of Art University did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Acting Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $34,125 for california bachelor’s degree acting students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend Academy of Art University.

Read more about Acting at Academy of Art University

#6

New York Film Academy

Burbank, California
#6 in overall quality

New York Film Academy ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k list. Located in Burbank, California, this small private for-profit school awarded 98 degrees to qualified bachelors’s acting students in 2019-2020.

New York Film Academy not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #6 on our “Best Acting Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $43,325 for california bachelor’s degree acting students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend New York Film Academy.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Read more about Acting at New York Film Academy

Notes and References

References

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

  • *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
  • Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

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