2022 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Documentary Production

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Documentary Production Schools for a Master’s” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 92 people earned their degree in documentary production, making the major the 1076th most popular in the United States.

At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 32 documentary production graduates with average earnings and debt of $56,398 and $43,194 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Documentary Production Schools for a Master’s” ranking analyzed 4 colleges that offered a degree in documentary production. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent documentary production programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the documentary production program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Documentary Production Schools

The documentary production school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Documentary Production Schools for a Master’s”.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Documentary Production Schools for a Master’s

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Documentary Production Schools for a Master’s.

Top 4 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Documentary Production

#1

Chapman University

Orange, California

#2 in overall quality

$35,105 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Documentary Production Schools for a Master’s that were part of this year’s ranking, Chapman University landed the #1 spot on the list. Chapman is a medium-sized school located in Orange, California that handed out 8 masters’s documentary production degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our master’s degree documentary production students list, Chapman has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Documentary Production Master’s Degree Schools” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Chapman are $35,105, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Documentary Production at Chapman

#2

University of California - Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz, California

#3 in overall quality

$28,952 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Santa Cruz. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Documentary Production Schools for a Master’s. University of California - Santa Cruz is located in Santa Cruz, California and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 9 masters’s documentary production degrees to qualified students.

UC Santa Cruz not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Documentary Production Master’s Degree Schools” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at University of California - Santa Cruz are $28,952.

Read more about Documentary Production at University of California - Santa Cruz

#3

New York Film Academy

Burbank, California

#4 in overall quality

$35,457 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend New York Film Academy. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Documentary Production Schools for a Master’s list. Located in Burbank, California, this small private for-profit school handed out 4 diplomas to qualified masters’s documentary production students in 2019-2020.

New York Film Academy also made our “Best Documentary Production Master’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #4. Average graduate tuition and fees at New York Film Academy are $35,457, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Documentary Production at New York Film Academy

#4

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$56,567 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northwestern University. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Documentary Production Schools for a Master’s list. Northwestern is located in Evanston, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 10 masters’s documentary production degrees to qualified students.

Northwestern also took the #1 spot in our “Best Documentary Production Master’s Degree Schools” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Northwestern are $56,567, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Documentary Production at Northwestern University

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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