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2025 Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in California

28 Colleges in California
4,479 Film Degrees Awarded
$25,982 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on majoring in film, video & photographic arts, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #62 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 28 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for film, video & photographic arts students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 4,479 degrees in film, video & photographic arts to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Film, Video & Photographic Arts School

Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in California Your choice of film, video & photographic arts school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Film, Video & Photographic Arts School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Pick Your Film, Video & Photographic Arts Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Film
Bachelor's Degrees in Film
Master's Degrees in Film
Doctor's Degrees in Film

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 Schools in California list to help you make the college decision. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. 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.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

Best Schools for Film, Video & Photographic Arts 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 film degrees they offer, see the list below.

10 Top California Schools in Film

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
317 Film Degrees Awarded
2.2% Growth in Graduates

University of Southern California is a wonderful choice for students pursuing a degree in film, video & photographic arts. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #13 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were about 317 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year. Those film, video & photographic arts students who get their degree from University of Southern California receive $5,061 more than the typical film student.

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

2
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
306 Film Degrees Awarded
37.9% Growth in Graduates

Chapman University is a good option for students pursuing a degree in film, video & photographic arts. Chapman is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Orange. A Best Colleges rank of #172 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Chapman is a great university overall.

There were about 306 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at Chapman in the most recent year we have data available. Those film, video & photographic arts students who get their degree from Chapman University make $8,016 more than the standard film student.

More information about a degree in film, video & photographic arts from Chapman University

Sponsored
Associates Degree Type
AA in Digital Photography Program Name

Take the first step toward a career of visual expression and doing what you love with this online associate degree from Southern New Hampshire University.

More information about a degree in AA in Digital Photography from Southern New Hampshire University

Related Programs

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
166 Film Degrees Awarded
$28,608 Median Starting Salary

Any student pursuing a degree in film, video & photographic arts has to check out University of California - Santa Barbara. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #47 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UCSB is a great university overall.

There were approximately 166 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at UCSB in the most recent data year. Film, Video & Photographic Arts degree recipients from University of California - Santa Barbara earn a boost of approximately $2,626 over the typical earnings of film, video & photographic arts graduates.

More information about a degree in film, video & photographic arts from University of California - Santa Barbara

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
121 Film Degrees Awarded
$37,446 Median Starting Salary

University of California - Los Angeles is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in film, video & photographic arts. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #28 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.

There were approximately 121 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent year we have data available. Those film, video & photographic arts students who get their degree from University of California - Los Angeles earn $11,465 more than the typical film graduate.

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

5
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
257 Film Degrees Awarded
3.9% Growth in Graduates

SFSU is a very large public university located in the city of San Francisco. This university ranks 30th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 257 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at SFSU in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the film program state that they receive average early career earnings of $18,654.

More information about a degree in film, video & photographic arts from San Francisco State University

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
188 Film Degrees Awarded
4.8% Growth in Graduates

UC Santa Cruz is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Santa Cruz. A Best Colleges rank of #91 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UC Santa Cruz is a great university overall.

There were about 188 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at UC Santa Cruz in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the film program make around $23,614 in their early career salary.

More information about a degree in film, video & photographic arts from University of California - Santa Cruz

7
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
206 Film Degrees Awarded
3.4% Growth in Graduates

Located in the city of Riverside, UCR is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #219 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UCR is a great university overall.

There were roughly 206 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at UCR in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the film program make about $24,840 in their early career salary.

More information about a degree in film, video & photographic arts from University of California - Riverside

Sponsored
Bachelors Degree Type
BA in Digital Photography Program Name

Learn to create a striking portfolio and hone the skills you need to succeed in the world of professional photography with this online digital photography degree from Southern New Hampshire University.

More information about a degree in BA in Digital Photography from Southern New Hampshire University

Related Programs

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
88 Film Degrees Awarded
10.2% Growth in Graduates

UC Berkeley is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Berkeley. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were roughly 88 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year. Those film, video & photographic arts students who get their degree from University of California - Berkeley earn $3,029 more than the typical film student.

More information about a degree in film, video & photographic arts from University of California - Berkeley

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
124 Film Degrees Awarded
16.1% Growth in Graduates

Loyola Marymount is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles. This university ranks 29th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were roughly 124 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at Loyola Marymount in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the film program earn about $25,397 for their early career.

More information about a degree in film, video & photographic arts from Loyola Marymount University

10
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
175 Film Degrees Awarded
4.6% Growth in Graduates

UC Irvine is a fairly large public university located in the city of Irvine. A Best Colleges rank of #73 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UC Irvine is a great university overall.

There were approximately 175 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the film program earn an average of $21,397 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a degree in film, video & photographic arts from University of California - Irvine

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 300 132
Oregon 266 161
Nevada 192 77

View All Rankings >

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

Film Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Film & Video Production 2,143
Film/Cinema/Media Studies 1,678
Photography 326
Other Film/Video & Photographic Arts 311
Documentary Production 21

View All Film Focus Areas >

Majors Similar to Film

Related Major Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts 6,800
Design & Applied Arts 4,768
Music 3,501
Drama & Theater Arts 2,809
General Visual & Performing Arts 1,286
Dance 498
Arts & Media Management 335
Other Visual Art 45

View All Film Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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