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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Film, Video & Photographic Arts in Illinois (With Aid)

8 Ranked Colleges
544 Degrees Awarded
$24,300 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor's in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” 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. 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 Getting Aid” 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.

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.

More Ways to Rank Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools

The film 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 Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid”.

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 for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois bachelor’s degree film students with aid.

Top 8 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Film, Video & Photographic Arts in Illinois (With Aid)

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 #1 for the Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid. Champaign, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s film degrees to 11 students in 2019-2020.

UIUC also took the #1 spot in our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UIUC is $15,880 for illinois bachelor’s degree film students with aid.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Film, Video & Photographic Arts Report

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Illinois University Carbondale landed the #2 spot on the list. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is located in Carbondale, Illinois and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 38 bachelors’s film degrees to qualified students.

SIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #6 on our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $16,945 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Film students with aid per year to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Read full report on Film, Video & Photographic Arts at Southern Illinois University Carbondale

#3

Dominican University

River Forest, Illinois
#7 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Dominican University. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. River Forest, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s film degrees to 1 students in 2019-2020.

Dominican U did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend Dominican University is $19,268 for illinois bachelor’s degree film students with aid.

The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Read more about Film, Video & Photographic Arts at Dominican U

#4

Bradley University

Peoria, Illinois
#3 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Bradley University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid. Bradley University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Peoria, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 9 bachelors’s degrees 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. The yearly cost to attend Bradley is $25,634 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Film students with aid.

With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. 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%.

Read more about Film, Video & Photographic Arts at Bradley University

#5

Columbia College Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Columbia College Chicago landed the #5 spot on the list. Columbia College Chicago is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 312 bachelors’s film degrees to qualified students.

Columbia not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Columbia College Chicago is $31,099 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Film students with aid.

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

#6

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois
#2 in overall quality

With a ranking of #6, University of Chicago did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 13 bachelors’s film degrees in 2019-2020.

UChicago also made our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #2. The estimated yearly cost for University of Chicago is $27,315 for illinois bachelor’s degree film students with aid.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 100%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. 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%. 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.

Read more about Film, Video & Photographic Arts at University of Chicago

#7

DePaul University

Chicago, Illinois

DePaul University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #7. DePaul is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 156 bachelors’s film degrees in 2019-2020.

DePaul did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend DePaul is $30,090 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Film students with aid.

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

With a ranking of #8, American Academy of Art did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. This small school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 2 bachelors’s film degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree film students with aid list, The Academy has also earned the #8 rank in our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $28,106 for illinois bachelor’s degree film students with aid 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.

Full American Academy of Art Film, Video & Photographic Arts Report

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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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