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2025 Best Playwriting & Screenwriting Schools in California

8 Colleges in California
326 Playwriting and Screenwriting Degrees Awarded
A degree in playwriting & screenwriting is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #521 out of 1506 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 8 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for playwriting & screenwriting students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 326 degrees in playwriting & screenwriting to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Playwriting & Screenwriting School

Best Playwriting & Screenwriting Schools in California Your choice of playwriting & screenwriting school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for playwriting & screenwriting schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Playwriting & Screenwriting Rankings by Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Playwriting and Screenwriting
Master's Degrees in Playwriting and Screenwriting

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 Playwriting & Screenwriting Schools in California list to help you make the college decision. More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.

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. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Read more about College Factual's methodology.

Best Schools for Playwriting & Screenwriting 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 playwriting and screenwriting degrees they offer, see the list below.

Top California Schools in Playwriting and Screenwriting

1
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In CA
53 Playwriting and Screenwriting Degrees Awarded

University of Southern California is a great choice for students interested in a degree in playwriting & screenwriting. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #13 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were roughly 53 playwriting & screenwriting students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in playwriting & screenwriting from University of Southern California

2
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In CA
71 Playwriting and Screenwriting Degrees Awarded

Chapman University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in playwriting & screenwriting. Located in the midsize city of Orange, Chapman is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #172 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Chapman is a great university overall.

There were roughly 71 playwriting & screenwriting students who graduated with this degree at Chapman in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in playwriting & screenwriting from Chapman University

3
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In CA
89 Playwriting and Screenwriting Degrees Awarded

Loyola Marymount University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in playwriting & screenwriting. Located in the city of Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #222 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Loyola Marymount is a great university overall.

There were roughly 89 playwriting & screenwriting students who graduated with this degree at Loyola Marymount in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in playwriting & screenwriting from Loyola Marymount University

4
Academy of Art University crest
Academy of Art University
San Francisco, CA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
5th Most Popular In CA

Academy of Art University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in playwriting & screenwriting. Academy of Art University is a moderately-sized private for-profit university located in the large city of San Francisco. This university ranks 47th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 17 playwriting & screenwriting students who graduated with this degree at Academy of Art University in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in playwriting & screenwriting from Academy of Art University

5
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
8th Most Popular In CA
30.8% Growth in Graduates

Cal State Fullerton is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Fullerton. This university ranks 41st out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 13 playwriting & screenwriting students who graduated with this degree at Cal State Fullerton in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in playwriting & screenwriting from California State University - Fullerton

6
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In CA
6.3% Growth in Graduates

CSUN is a very large public university located in the city of Northridge. This university ranks 48th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 16 playwriting & screenwriting students who graduated with this degree at CSUN in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in playwriting & screenwriting from California State University - Northridge

7
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In CA

Located in the medium-sized city of Burbank, New York Film Academy is a private for-profit school with a small student population.

There were roughly 27 playwriting & screenwriting students who graduated with this degree at New York Film Academy in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in playwriting & screenwriting from New York Film Academy

8

LA Film School is a moderately-sized private for-profit school located in the city of Hollywood.More information about a degree in playwriting & screenwriting from Los Angeles Film School

Best Playwriting & Screenwriting Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Playwriting & Screenwriting Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 831 0

View All Rankings >

Playwriting & Screenwriting is one of 11 different types of Drama & Theater Arts programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Theater Arts 1,862
Acting 381
Theater Design & Technology 134
Musical Theater 48
Costume Design 26
Other Dramatic/Theatre Arts & Stagecraft 24
Directing & Theatrical Production 6
Comedy Writing and Performance 2

View All Playwriting and Screenwriting Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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