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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Photography in California (With Aid)

8 Ranked Colleges
174 Degrees Awarded
$35,500 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Photography Schools for a Bachelor's in California For Those Getting Aid

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Photography Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking.

In 2019-2020, 2,438 people earned their degree in photography, making the major the 291st most popular in the United States.

Across California, there were 461 photography graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 174 photography graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Photography Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking, we looked at 8 colleges that offer a degree in photography. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent photography 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 photography program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Photography Schools

The photography 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 Photography Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid”.

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. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Photography Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Photography Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid.

Top 8 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Photography in California (With Aid)

#5 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Sacramento. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Photography Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid list. This large school is located in Sacramento, California, and it awarded 31 bachelors’s photography degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree photography students with aid list, Sac State has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Photography Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Sac State is $9,979 for California Bachelor’s Degree Photography students with aid.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Photography at Sac State

#2

Pacific Union College

Angwin, California
#7 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Pacific Union College. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Photography Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid list. Pacific Union College is a private not-for-profit institution located in Angwin, California. The school has a small population, and it awarded 1 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree photography students with aid list, PUC has also earned the #7 rank in our “Best Photography Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for PUC is $21,835 for California Bachelor’s Degree Photography students with aid.

Read more about Photography at PUC

#3

Academy of Art University

San Francisco, California
#1 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Academy of Art University. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Photography Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid list. San Francisco, California is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private for-profit school handed out bachelors’s photography degrees to 47 students in 2019-2020.

Academy of Art University did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Photography Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $34,145 for california bachelor’s degree photography students with aid per year to attend Academy of Art University.

Read full report on Photography at Academy of Art University

#4

Art Center College of Design

Pasadena, California
#2 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Art Center College of Design. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Photography Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid. Art Center College of Design is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Pasadena, California. It awarded 30 bachelors’s photography degrees in 2019-2020.

Art Center College of Design also took the #2 spot in our “Best Photography Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Art Center College of Design is $47,080 for California Bachelor’s Degree Photography students with aid.

The student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. 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%.

Read more about Photography at Art Center College of Design

#5

California College of the Arts

San Francisco, California
#4 in overall quality

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Photography Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, California College of the Arts landed the #5 spot on the list. California College of the Arts is a small school located in San Francisco, California that handed out 10 bachelors’s photography degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at California College of the Arts, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Photography Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $33,876 for california bachelor’s degree photography students with aid per year to attend California College of the Arts.

The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The low student loan default rate of 4.3% 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 full report on Photography at California College of the Arts

#6

California Institute of the Arts

Valencia, California
#3 in overall quality

With a ranking of #6, California Institute of the Arts did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Photography Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid list. Valencia, California is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s photography degrees to 14 students in 2019-2020.

CalArts not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Photography Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $50,412 for california bachelor’s degree photography students with aid per year to attend CalArts.

The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Photography at California Institute of the Arts

#7

San Francisco Art Institute

San Francisco, California
#6 in overall quality

San Francisco Art Institute did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Photography Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #7. SFAI is a small school located in San Francisco, California that handed out 13 bachelors’s photography degrees in 2019-2020.

SFAI also took the #6 spot in our “Best Photography Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $41,392 for California Bachelor’s Degree Photography students with aid per year to attend SFAI.

With a student-to-faculty ratio of 3 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.

Read more about Photography at San Francisco Art Institute

#8

New York Film Academy

Burbank, California
#8 in overall quality

New York Film Academy came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Photography Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid ranking. New York Film Academy is located in Burbank, California and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 18 bachelors’s photography degrees to qualified students.

New York Film Academy did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #8 on our “Best Photography Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $45,280 for california bachelor’s degree photography students with aid per year to attend New York Film Academy.

The student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Photography at New York Film Academy

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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