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2025 Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Master's Degree Schools in California

11 Colleges in California
877 Master's Degrees
$30,245 Avg Early-Career Salary
a master's degree in film, video & photographic arts is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #84 out of 343 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.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 11 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 877 master's degrees in film, video & photographic arts during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Film, Video & Photographic Arts School for Your Master's Degree

Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Master's Degree Schools in California Your choice of film, video & photographic arts for getting your master's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we include a college's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a host of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for film, video & photographic arts students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Film Rankings Other Ranking Categories

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 Master's Degree Schools in California list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Film, Video & Photographic Arts in California

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for film, video & photographic arts students seeking a a master's degree.

10 Top California Schools for a Master's in Film

1

It's hard to beat University of Southern California if you wish to pursue a master's degree in film, video & photographic arts. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the film program report average early career wages of $26,843.

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

2

Chapman University is a wonderful choice for students interested in a master's degree in film, video & photographic arts. Located in the medium-sized city of Orange, Chapman is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.

After graduating, film master's recipients typically make about $28,832 in their early careers.

More information about a master’s in film, video & photographic arts from Chapman University

3

University of California - Los Angeles is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in film, video & photographic arts. UCLA is a fairly large public university located in the city of Los Angeles.

Film, Video & Photographic Arts master's degree recipients from University of California - Los Angeles earn a boost of around $9,709 over the average earnings of film, video & photographic arts majors.

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

4
10 Annual Graduates

University of California - Santa Cruz is a good option for students pursuing a master's degree in film, video & photographic arts. Located in the small city of Santa Cruz, UC Santa Cruz is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in film, video & photographic arts from University of California - Santa Cruz

5

Located in the large city of Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the film program report average early career earnings of $27,650.

More information about a master’s in film, video & photographic arts from Loyola Marymount University

6
13 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of San Francisco, SFSU is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in film, video & photographic arts from San Francisco State University

7
Academy of Art University crest
Academy of Art University
San Francisco, CA

Academy of Art University is a moderately-sized private for-profit university located in the large city of San Francisco.

Master's recipients from the film, video & photographic arts program at Academy of Art University make $11,666 more than the typical college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.

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

8

CalArts is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Valencia.

Soon after graduation, film master's recipients usually earn about $20,842 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a master’s in film, video & photographic arts from California Institute of the Arts

9
11 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of San Francisco, California College of the Arts is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.More information about a master’s in film, video & photographic arts from California College of the Arts

10
16 Annual Graduates

Art Center College of Design is a small private not-for-profit college located in the midsize city of Pasadena.More information about a master’s in film, video & photographic arts from Art Center College of Design

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 183 6
Nevada 105 3

View All Rankings >

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

Film Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Film & Video Production 529
Film/Cinema/Media Studies 269
Photography 58
Documentary Production 21

Related Major Annual Graduates
Music 570
Fine & Studio Arts 364
Drama & Theater Arts 272
Design & Applied Arts 186
Arts & Media Management 55
General Visual & Performing Arts 54
Dance 45
Other Visual Art 7

Notes and References

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