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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Acting (Income $48-$75k) in California

6 Ranked Colleges
239 Degrees Awarded
Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor's in California For Those Making $48-$75k

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Acting is the 319th most popular major in the country with 1,944 degrees awarded in 2019-2020.

Across California, there were 570 acting graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 239 acting graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking, we looked at 6 colleges that offer a degree in acting. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great acting programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the acting program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Acting Schools

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 Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k” list to help you make the college 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 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.

Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k.

Top 6 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Acting (Income $48-$75k) in California

#1

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California
#1 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Southern California. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k list. University of Southern California is a private not-for-profit institution located in Los Angeles, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 63 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at USC, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Acting Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $20,050 for california bachelor’s degree acting students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend University of Southern California.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Acting at USC

#2

Pepperdine University

Malibu, California
#3 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Pepperdine University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k list. Malibu, California is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s acting degrees to 7 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Pepperdine, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Acting Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Pepperdine University is $31,918 for california bachelor’s degree acting students whose families make $48-$75k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Pepperdine University Acting Report

#3

Chapman University

Orange, California
#2 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Chapman University. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k list. This medium-sized school is located in Orange, California, and it awarded 15 bachelors’s acting degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree acting students whose families make $48-$75k list, Chapman has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Acting Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Chapman is $36,041 for California Bachelor’s Degree Acting students whose families make $48-$75k.

With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Chapman University Acting Report

#4

California Institute of the Arts

Valencia, California
#4 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California Institute of the Arts. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k list. California Institute of the Arts is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Valencia, California. It awarded 29 bachelors’s acting degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at CalArts, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Acting Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend CalArts is $46,265 for California Bachelor’s Degree Acting students whose families make $48-$75k.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The student loan default rate at the school is 4.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Acting at CalArts

#5

Academy of Art University

San Francisco, California
#5 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Academy of Art University. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k list. This medium-sized school is located in San Francisco, California, and it awarded 27 bachelors’s acting degrees in 2019-2020.

Academy of Art University not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best Acting Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for Academy of Art University is $38,617 for california bachelor’s degree acting students whose families make $48-$75k.

Full Academy of Art University Acting Report

#6

New York Film Academy

Burbank, California
#6 in overall quality

With a ranking of #6, New York Film Academy did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k list. Burbank, California is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private for-profit school handed out bachelors’s acting degrees to 98 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at New York Film Academy, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Acting Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $47,592 for California Bachelor’s Degree Acting students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend New York Film Academy.

With a student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. 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%.

Full New York Film Academy Acting Report

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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