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2022 Best Value Colleges for Film, Video & Photographic Arts (Income $48-$75k) in Illinois

10 Ranked Colleges
631 Degrees Awarded
Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking - to help you make that 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.

For this year’s “Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking, we looked at 10 colleges that offer 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.

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 film, video and photographic arts program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k.

Top 10 Best Value Colleges for Film, Video & Photographic Arts (Income $48-$75k) in Illinois

#1

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, Northwestern University landed the #1 spot on the list. This large school is located in Evanston, Illinois, and it awarded 13 ’s film degrees in 2019-2020.

Northwestern not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $6,452 for illinois film students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend Northwestern.

With a student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%. The low student loan default rate of 0.8% 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 Northwestern University Film, Video & Photographic Arts Report

#2

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Chicago landed the #2 spot on the list. University of Chicago is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 14 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UChicago not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $7,934 for Illinois Film students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend UChicago.

The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The student loan default rate at the school is 0.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 100%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full UChicago Film, Video & Photographic Arts Report

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 #3 for the Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k. Champaign, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s film degrees to 11 students in 2019-2020.

UIUC also took the #1 spot in our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $13,351 for illinois film students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The low student loan default rate of 2.4% 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%. 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

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Chicago landed the #4 spot on the list. This large school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 3 ’s film degrees in 2019-2020.

UIC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend UIC is $13,683 for Illinois Film students whose families make $48-$75k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full UIC Film, Video & Photographic Arts Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k. SIUC is a fairly large school located in Carbondale, Illinois that handed out 38 ’s film degrees in 2019-2020.

SIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #8 on our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $14,985 for Illinois Film students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Read more about Film, Video & Photographic Arts at Southern Illinois University Carbondale

#6

Bradley University

Peoria, Illinois

Bradley University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k ranking. Located in Peoria, Illinois, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school awarded 9 degrees to qualified ’s film students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Bradley, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Bradley is $22,865 for illinois film students whose families make $48-$75k.

The low student loan default rate of 2.5% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full Bradley University Film, Video & Photographic Arts Report

#7

Dominican University

River Forest, Illinois

Dominican University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k ranking, coming in at #7. River Forest, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s film degrees to 1 students in 2019-2020.

Dominican U not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #9 on our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $18,582 for illinois film students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend Dominican U.

The student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.

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

#8

Columbia College Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

Columbia College Chicago did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k ranking, coming in at #8. Columbia is a medium-sized school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 336 ’s film degrees in 2019-2020.

Columbia also made our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #6. The estimated yearly cost for Columbia is $31,071 for illinois film students whose families make $48-$75k.

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

#9

DePaul University

Chicago, Illinois

With a ranking of #9, DePaul University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this large private not-for-profit school handed out 195 degrees to qualified ’s film students in 2019-2020.

DePaul did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $28,075 for illinois film students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend DePaul.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

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

#10

American Academy of Art

Chicago, Illinois

American Academy of Art came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k ranking. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 2 degrees to qualified ’s film students in 2019-2020.

The Academy also took the #10 spot in our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for American Academy of Art is $31,382 for Illinois Film students whose families make $48-$75k.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 7 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Read more about Film, Video & Photographic Arts at The Academy

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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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