College Factual  by our College Data Analytics Team
       Unbiased Factual Guarantee

2024 Best Photography Schools in California

6 Colleges in California
360 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.

College Factual reviewed 6 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of photography. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 360 degrees in photography during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Photography School

Best Photography Schools in California Your choice of photography school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. 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.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Pick Your Photography Degree Level

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

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Photography Schools in California list, to help you choose the best school for you. 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 California

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.

Top California Schools in Photography

1
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

Every student who is interested in photography has to check out Academy of Art University. Located in the large city of San Francisco, Academy of Art University is a private for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.

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

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

2
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
8th Most Popular In CA

California College of the Arts is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in photography. California College of the Arts is a small private not-for-profit college located in the city of San Francisco.

There were approximately 10 photography students who graduated with this degree at California College of the Arts in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in photography from California College of the Arts

3
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In CA

Any student who is interested in photography has to look into California State University - Sacramento. Located in the large city of Sacramento, Sac State is a public university with a very large student population.

There were roughly 20 photography students who graduated with this degree at Sac State in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in photography from California State University - Sacramento

4
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In CA
12.0% Growth in Graduates

California Institute of the Arts is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in photography. Located in the suburb of Valencia, CalArts is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

There were roughly 25 photography students who graduated with this degree at CalArts in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in photography from California Institute of the Arts

5
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In CA

Located in the midsize city of Pasadena, Art Center College of Design is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

There were approximately 19 photography students who graduated with this degree at Art Center College of Design in the most recent data year.

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

6

6
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
5th Most Popular In CA

New York Film Academy is a small private for-profit school located in the midsize city of Burbank.

There were about 23 photography students who graduated with this degree at New York Film Academy in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in photography from New York Film Academy

Best Photography Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Photography Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 831 3
Oregon 587 6

View All Rankings >

One of 4 majors within the Film, Video & Photographic Arts area of study, Photography has other similar majors worth exploring.

Majors Similar to Photography

Related Major Annual Graduates
Film & Video Production 1,951
Film/Cinema/Media Studies 1,623
Other Film/Video & Photographic Arts 303
Documentary Production 21

View All Photography Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

Popular Reports

College Rankings
Best by Location
Degree Guides by Major
Graduate Programs

Compare Your School Options