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2024 Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in California

29 Colleges in California
4,258 Film Degrees Awarded
$25,500 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on majoring in film, video & photographic arts, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #62 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 29 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of film, video & photographic arts. Combined, these schools handed out 4,258 degrees in film, video & photographic arts to qualified students.

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

Choosing a Great Film, Video & Photographic Arts School

Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in California Your choice of film, video & photographic arts school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Film, Video & Photographic Arts School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.

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

Pick Your Film, Video & Photographic Arts Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Film
Bachelor's Degrees in Film
Master's Degrees in Film
Doctor's Degrees in Film

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in California list to help you make the college decision. 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 Film, Video & Photographic Arts in California

If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the film degrees they offer, see the list below.

10 Top California Schools in Film

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
310 Film Degrees Awarded
$32,036 Median Starting Salary

University of Southern California is a great choice for students interested in a degree in film, video & photographic arts. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were approximately 310 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the film, video & photographic arts degree program at University of Southern California earn $6,536 above the standard graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in film, video & photographic arts from University of Southern California

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
79 Film Degrees Awarded
$31,313 Median Starting Salary

University of California - Berkeley is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in film, video & photographic arts. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley. A Best Colleges rank of #18 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were about 79 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent year we have data available. Film, Video & Photographic Arts degree recipients from University of California - Berkeley get an earnings boost of about $5,813 over the average income of film, video & photographic arts majors.

More information about a degree in film, video & photographic arts from University of California - Berkeley

3
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
190 Film Degrees Awarded
$29,593 Median Starting Salary

Chapman University is a wonderful decision for students interested in a degree in film, video & photographic arts. Chapman is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Orange. This university ranks 32nd out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were roughly 190 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at Chapman in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the film, video & photographic arts major at Chapman University make $4,093 above the average graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in film, video & photographic arts from Chapman University

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
127 Film Degrees Awarded
17.3% Growth in Graduates

University of California - Los Angeles is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in film, video & photographic arts. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #26 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.

There were approximately 127 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, film degree recipients generally make around $27,331 in their early careers.

More information about a degree in film, video & photographic arts from University of California - Los Angeles

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
184 Film Degrees Awarded
9.8% Growth in Graduates

Located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #45 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UCSB is a great university overall.

There were about 184 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at UCSB in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the film program state that they receive average early career wages of $27,057.

More information about a degree in film, video & photographic arts from University of California - Santa Barbara

6
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
167 Film Degrees Awarded
25.1% Growth in Graduates

UC Irvine is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Irvine. A Best Colleges rank of #61 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UC Irvine is a great university overall.

There were about 167 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent year we have data available. Film, Video & Photographic Arts degree recipients from University of California - Irvine get an earnings boost of about $2,645 over the average income of film, video & photographic arts graduates.

More information about a degree in film, video & photographic arts from University of California - Irvine

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
179 Film Degrees Awarded
$24,155 Median Starting Salary

UC Santa Cruz is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Santa Cruz. A Best Colleges rank of #102 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UC Santa Cruz is a great university overall.

There were about 179 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at UC Santa Cruz in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the film program state that they receive average early career wages of $24,155.

More information about a degree in film, video & photographic arts from University of California - Santa Cruz

8
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
104 Film Degrees Awarded
$29,807 Median Starting Salary

Loyola Marymount is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #135 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Loyola Marymount is a great university overall.

There were about 104 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at Loyola Marymount in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the film, video & photographic arts program at Loyola Marymount University get $4,307 more than the average graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in film, video & photographic arts from Loyola Marymount University

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
247 Film Degrees Awarded
6.1% Growth in Graduates

SFSU is a fairly large public university located in the large city of San Francisco. This university ranks 35th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were roughly 247 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at SFSU in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the film program state that they receive average early career earnings of $24,940.

More information about a degree in film, video & photographic arts from San Francisco State University

10
Academy of Art University crest
Academy of Art University
San Francisco, CA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
172 Film Degrees Awarded
$35,466 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of San Francisco, Academy of Art University is a private for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. This university ranks 37th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were roughly 172 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at Academy of Art University in the most recent data year. Film, Video & Photographic Arts degree recipients from Academy of Art University get an earnings boost of around $9,966 over the typical earnings of film, video & photographic arts graduates.

More information about a degree in film, video & photographic arts from Academy of Art University

Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 300 132
Oregon 266 161
Nevada 192 77

View All Rankings >

Film, Video & Photographic Arts is one of 10 different types of Visual & Performing Arts programs to choose from.

Film Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Film & Video Production 1,951
Film/Cinema/Media Studies 1,623
Photography 360
Other Film/Video & Photographic Arts 303
Documentary Production 21

View All Film Focus Areas >

Majors Similar to Film

Related Major Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts 6,526
Design & Applied Arts 4,575
Music 3,612
Drama & Theater Arts 3,040
General Visual & Performing Arts 1,198
Dance 538
Arts & Media Management 315
Other Visual Art 83

View All Film Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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