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2024 Best Photography Schools

97 Colleges in the United States
2,184 Photography Degrees Awarded
If you plan on majoring in photography, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #310 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 97 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Photography Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,184 degrees in photography during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Photography School

Best Photography Schools The photography program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Photography rankings. We derive our Best Overall Photography School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Photography Rankings by Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Photography
Bachelor's Degrees in Photography
Master's Degrees in Photography

The photography 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 the Best Photography Schools. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.


 

Best Schools for Photography in the United States

Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the photography degree levels they offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

14 Top Schools in Photography

1
NYU crest
New York University
New York, NY
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In NY

New York University is a wonderful choice for students interested in a degree in photography. NYU is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York. A Best Colleges rank of #27 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means NYU is a great university overall.

There were roughly 30 photography students who graduated with this degree at NYU in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in photography from New York University

2
Yale crest
Yale University
New Haven, CT
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In CT

Yale University is a wonderful option for students pursuing a degree in photography. Yale is a large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of New Haven. A Best Colleges rank of #8 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Yale is a great university overall.

There were about 10 photography students who graduated with this degree at Yale in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in photography from Yale University

3
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In UT

Every student who is interested in photography needs to check out Brigham Young University - Provo. Located in the midsize city of Provo, BYU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #100 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means BYU is a great university overall.

There were about 7 photography students who graduated with this degree at BYU in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in photography from Brigham Young University - Provo

4
Academy of Art University crest
Academy of Art University
San Francisco, CA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In CA
93 Photography Degrees Awarded

Academy of Art University is a great decision for students interested in a degree in photography. Academy of Art University is a medium-sized private for-profit university located in the large city of San Francisco. This university ranks 37th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 93 photography students who graduated with this degree at Academy of Art University in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in photography from Academy of Art University

5

MSMU is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles. This university ranks 52nd out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.More information about a degree in photography from Mount Saint Mary’s University

6
Temple crest
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In PA
35.3% Growth in Graduates

Temple is a very large public university located in the large city of Philadelphia. This university ranks 11th out of 109 schools for overall quality in the state of Pennsylvania.

There were about 17 photography students who graduated with this degree at Temple in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in photography from Temple University

7
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In GA
114 Photography Degrees Awarded

Located in the medium-sized city of Savannah, SCAD is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

There were roughly 114 photography students who graduated with this degree at SCAD in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in photography from Savannah College of Art and Design

8
The American University crest
American University
Washington, DC
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In DC

Located in the city of Washington, The American University is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #129 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means The American University is a great university overall.

There were approximately 1 photography students who graduated with this degree at The American University in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in photography from American University

9
Syracuse crest
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
7th Most Popular In NY

Located in the midsize city of Syracuse, Syracuse is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #132 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Syracuse is a great university overall.

There were roughly 16 photography students who graduated with this degree at Syracuse in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in photography from Syracuse University

10
Seattle U crest
Seattle University
Seattle, WA
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In WA

Located in the city of Seattle, Seattle U is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 51 colleges for overall quality in the state of Washington.

There were roughly 1 photography students who graduated with this degree at Seattle U in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in photography from Seattle University

11
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In IL
44 Photography Degrees Awarded

Columbia is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit college located in the city of Chicago. This college ranks 16th out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.

There were roughly 44 photography students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in photography from Columbia College Chicago

12
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In MD

MICA is a small private not-for-profit college located in the city of Baltimore.

There were about 25 photography students who graduated with this degree at MICA in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in photography from Maryland Institute College of Art

13
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In MA
11.5% Growth in Graduates

Massachusetts College of Art and Design is a small public college located in the city of Boston.

There were approximately 26 photography students who graduated with this degree at Massachusetts College of Art and Design in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in photography from Massachusetts College of Art and Design

14
New School University crest
The New School
New York, NY
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In NY
63 Photography Degrees Awarded

Located in the city of New York, New School University is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population. This school ranks 15th out of 142 colleges for overall quality in the state of New York.

There were approximately 63 photography students who graduated with this degree at New School University in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in photography from The New School

Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great schools for Photography students that almost earned our Best Photography Schools award.

Rank College Location
15 School of Visual Arts New York, NY
16 University of Miami Coral Gables, FL
17 University of Washington - Seattle Campus Seattle, WA
17 Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY
18 Drexel University Philadelphia, PA
19 Pratt Institute - Main Brooklyn, NY
20 University of Central Florida Orlando, FL
21 California College of the Arts San Francisco, CA
22 California State University - Sacramento Sacramento, CA
23 Rhode Island School of Design Providence, RI
24 California Institute of the Arts Valencia, CA

Photography by Region

View the Best Photography Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

View All Rankings >

Photography is one of 4 different types of Film, Video & Photographic Arts programs to choose from.

Majors Similar to Photography

Related Major Annual Graduates
Film & Video Production 7,768
Film/Cinema/Media Studies 5,191
Other Film/Video & Photographic Arts 1,557
Documentary Production 78

View All Photography Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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College Rankings
Best by Location
Degree Guides by Major
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