2022 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Film, Video & Photographic Arts (Income $30-$48k) in Illinois

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. 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 Film Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Film, Video & Photographic Arts is the 64th most popular major in the country with 17,506 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, film, video and photographic arts graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $22,714 and had an average of $31,549 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 631 film, video and photographic arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $23,838 and $41,036 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 85 film, video and photographic arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $57,267 and $46,814 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Film Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer a degree in film, video and photographic arts. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality film, video and photographic arts programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the film, video and photographic arts program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 Film Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k” list to help you make the college decision.

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. 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 Film Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Film Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k.

Top 4 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Film, Video & Photographic Arts (Income $30-$48k) in Illinois

#1

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$56,567 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northwestern University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Film Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k list. Northwestern University is a large school located in Evanston, Illinois that handed out 12 masters’s film degrees in 2019-2020.

Northwestern not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Northwestern are $56,567, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Film, Video & Photographic Arts at Northwestern

#2

University of Illinois at Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

$27,036 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Chicago. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Film Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k list. UIC is a large public school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 3 masters’s film degrees in 2019-2020.

UIC also made our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #0. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Illinois at Chicago are $27,036, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Film, Video & Photographic Arts at University of Illinois at Chicago

#3

Columbia College Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

#2 in overall quality

$2,350 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$32,391 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Columbia College Chicago. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Film Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k list. Columbia is a medium-sized school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 24 masters’s film degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Columbia, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Columbia College Chicago are $2,350, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full Columbia Film, Video & Photographic Arts Report

#4

DePaul University

Chicago, Illinois

#3 in overall quality

$19,760 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$30,984 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Film Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, DePaul University landed the #4 spot on the list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this large private not-for-profit school handed out 39 degrees to qualified masters’s film students in 2019-2020.

DePaul also made our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #3. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at DePaul University are $19,760.

Full DePaul University Film, Video & Photographic Arts Report

• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Film, Video & Photographic Arts (Income $30-$48k) in the Great Lakes Region
• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Film, Video & Photographic Arts (Income $30-$48k)

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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