Find Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Film, Video & Photographic Arts

Find Schools Near

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

8 Ranked Colleges
544 Degrees Awarded
$17,400 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor's in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

In 2019-2020, 17,506 people earned their degree in film, video and photographic arts, making the major the 64th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, film, video and photographic arts graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $22,714 and had an average of $31,549 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 631 film, video and photographic arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $23,838 and $41,036 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 544 film, video and photographic arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking analyzed 8 colleges that offered a degree in film, video and photographic arts. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent film, video and photographic arts programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the film, video and photographic arts program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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. 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 Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k

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

Top 8 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Film, Video & Photographic Arts (Income $30-$48k) in Illinois

#1

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois
#2 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Chicago. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k. UChicago is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 13 bachelors’s film degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree film students whose families make $30-$48k list, UChicago has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UChicago is $2,800 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Film students whose families make $30-$48k.

With a student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 0.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 100%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Film, Video & Photographic Arts at UChicago

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k. Located in Champaign, Illinois, this large public school handed out 11 degrees to qualified bachelors’s film students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree film students whose families make $30-$48k list, UIUC has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $8,464 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Film students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full UIUC Film, Video & Photographic Arts Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k list. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a fairly large school located in Carbondale, Illinois that handed out 38 bachelors’s film degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree film students whose families make $30-$48k list, SIUC has also earned the #6 rank in our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $14,306 for illinois bachelor’s degree film students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Read full report on Film, Video & Photographic Arts at SIUC

#4

Bradley University

Peoria, Illinois
#3 in overall quality

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, Bradley University landed the #4 spot on the list. Located in Peoria, Illinois, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school awarded 9 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s film students in 2019-2020.

Bradley not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $18,232 for illinois bachelor’s degree film students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend Bradley.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Film, Video & Photographic Arts at Bradley University

#5

Dominican University

River Forest, Illinois
#7 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Dominican University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k. Dominican U is a small private not-for-profit school situated in River Forest, Illinois. It awarded 1 bachelors’s film degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Dominican U, the school also landed the #7 spot in our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Dominican University is $17,586 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Film students whose families make $30-$48k.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Full Dominican University Film, Video & Photographic Arts Report

#6

Columbia College Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

With a ranking of #6, Columbia College Chicago did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k list. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s film degrees to 312 students in 2019-2020.

Columbia did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Columbia is $27,397 for illinois bachelor’s degree film students whose families make $30-$48k.

Read more about Film, Video & Photographic Arts at Columbia

#7

DePaul University

Chicago, Illinois

DePaul University landed the #7 spot on the 2022 Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k ranking. This large school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 156 bachelors’s film degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at DePaul, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend DePaul University is $25,842 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Film students whose families make $30-$48k.

The low student loan default rate of 4.5% 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%.

Full DePaul University Film, Video & Photographic Arts Report

#8

American Academy of Art

Chicago, Illinois
#8 in overall quality

American Academy of Art came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k ranking. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 2 degrees to qualified bachelors’s film students in 2019-2020.

The Academy also took the #8 spot in our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $24,609 for illinois bachelor’s degree film students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend The Academy.

With a student-to-faculty ratio of 7 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.

Read full report on Film, Video & Photographic Arts at The Academy

Switch to a Different Ranking Method

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.

Featured Photography / Film Studies Schools

Find Schools Near You