by our College Data Analytics Team
When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Most Well Attended Film Major in Illinois” ranking - to help you make that decision.
In 2020-2021, 16,778 people earned their degree in film, video and photographic arts, making the major the 62nd most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, film, video and photographic arts graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $24,170 and had an average of $25,804 in loans still to pay off.
Across Illinois, there were 538 film, video and photographic arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $22,157 and $28,321 respectively.
This year’s “Most Well Attended Film Major in Illinois” ranking analyzed 12 colleges that offered a degree in film, video and photographic arts. This ranking identifies schools that graduate the most students in film, video and photographic arts.
Check out our ranking methodology for more information.
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 “Most Well Attended Film Major in Illinois” list to help you make the college decision.
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. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.
The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois film students.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Columbia College Chicago. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Most Well Attended Film Major in Illinois list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school handed out 234 diplomas to qualified ’s film students in 2020-2021.
Out of the 12 schools in the Most Well Attended Film Major in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, DePaul University landed the #2 spot on the list. This large school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 224 ’s film degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Film, Video & Photographic Arts at DePaul University
Out of the 12 schools in the Most Well Attended Film Major in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Illinois University Carbondale landed the #3 spot on the list. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a fairly large public school situated in Carbondale, Illinois. It awarded 30 ’s film degrees in 2020-2021.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Chicago. The school came in at #4 for the Most Well Attended Film Major in Illinois. University of Chicago is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 20 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 100%. With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Northwestern University. The school came in at #5 for the Most Well Attended Film Major in Illinois. Northwestern University is located in Evanston, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 14 ’s film degrees to qualified students.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.6% 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 more about Film, Video & Photographic Arts at Northwestern University
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Film Major in Illinois ranking, coming in at #6. Located in Champaign, Illinois, this large public school awarded 8 diplomas to qualified ’s film students in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.3% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read full report on Film, Video & Photographic Arts at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
With a ranking of #7, University of Illinois at Chicago did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Film Major in Illinois list. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s film degrees to 3 students in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.5% 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 more about Film, Video & Photographic Arts at University of Illinois at Chicago
With a ranking of #8, American Academy of Art did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Film Major in Illinois list. American Academy of Art is a small school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 1 ’s film degrees in 2020-2021.
With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 7 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.
Read more about Film, Video & Photographic Arts at American Academy of Art
Bradley University landed the #8 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Film Major in Illinois ranking. Bradley University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Peoria, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 1 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
With a ranking of #10, Governors State University did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Film Major in Illinois list. Governors State University is located in University Park, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 0 ’s film degrees to qualified students.
With a ranking of #10, Dominican University did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Film Major in Illinois list. This small school is located in River Forest, Illinois, and it awarded 0 ’s film degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.
Full Dominican University Film, Video & Photographic Arts Report
Judson University did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Film Major in Illinois ranking, coming in at #10. Judson is located in Elgin, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 0 ’s film degrees to qualified students.
Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The low undergrad 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 Film, Video & Photographic Arts at Judson University
Read more about our data sources and methodologies