2021 Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Colleges for Non-Traditional Students
89Colleges
12,366Bachelor's Degrees
$38,280Avg Cost*
Finding the Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools for Non-Traditional Students
In <nil>, 12,366 people earned their bachelor's in film, video & photographic arts, making the major the #42 most popular in the United States.
For this year's Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Colleges for Non-Traditional Students ranking, we looked at 89 colleges that offer a bachelor's in film. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent film, video & photographic arts programs, but they also offer a lot of support to non-traditional students.
When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the film, video & photographic arts program at the school, affordability, and presence of non-traditional students. See our ranking methodology to learn more.
ADVERTISEMENTS
Featured Film, Video & Photographic Arts Programs
Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
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.
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.
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 Schools for Non-Traditional Students 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.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
ADVERTISEMENTS
Featured Film, Video & Photographic Arts Programs
Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
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.
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.
University of Southern California tops the 2021 list of our schools in the United States that are best for non-traditional film, video & photographic arts students. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population. As a testament to the quality of education offered at USC, the school also landed the #1 rank in our Best Colleges for Film, Video & Photographic Arts ranking.
The student loan default rate at USC is lower than is typical, just 0.5% of students default in three years. Approximately 15,291 students take at least one class online at USC. There are roughly 6,687 part time students in attendance at USC.
New York University landed the #2 spot in our 2021 best film, video & photographic arts schools for non-traditional students. NYU is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York. In addition to being on our best for non-traditional students list, NYU has also earned the #3 rank in our Best Colleges for Film, Video & Photographic Arts ranking.
The student loan default rate at NYU is lower than is typical, just 0.8% of students default in three years. Approximately 21,614 students take at least one class online at NYU. There are roughly 8,829 part time students in attendance at NYU.
Chapman University earned the #3 spot in our 2021 rankings. Located in the midsize city of Orange, Chapman is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population. As a testament to the quality of education offered at Chapman, the school also landed the #2 rank in our Best Colleges for Film, Video & Photographic Arts ranking.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.6%. There are approximately 185 students at Chapman that take at least one class online. There are roughly 1,064 part time students in attendance at Chapman.
The #4 spot in this year's ranking belongs to Emerson College. Located in the large city of Boston, Emerson is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population. Emerson also made our Best Colleges for Film, Video & Photographic Arts list, coming in at #5.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 1.5%. 889 students at Emerson are exclusively online. There are roughly 562 part time students in attendance at Emerson.
American University landed the #5 spot in our 2021 best film, video & photographic arts schools for non-traditional students. The American University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Washington. The American University not only placed well in our non-traditional rankings. It is also #4 on our Best Colleges for Film, Video & Photographic Arts list.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.9%. There are approximately 5,283 students at The American University that take at least one class online. There are roughly 3,612 part time students in attendance at The American University.
Rochester Institute of Technology comes in at #6 in this year's ranking. RIT is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Rochester. RIT did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our Best Colleges for Film, Video & Photographic Arts list.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.8%. There are approximately 9,961 students at RIT that take at least one class online. There are roughly 1,867 part time students in attendance at RIT.
University of California - Santa Barbara comes in at #7 in this year's ranking. UCSB is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Santa Barbara. UCSB not only placed well in our non-traditional rankings. It is also #6 on our Best Colleges for Film, Video & Photographic Arts list.
About 0.5% of UCSB students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. There are approximately 3,596 students at UCSB that take at least one class online. 880 students are part time.
The #8 spot in this year's ranking belongs to DePaul University. DePaul is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago. In addition to being on our bet for non-traditional students list, DePaul is in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Colleges for Film, Video & Photographic Arts list.
The student loan default rate at DePaul is lower than is typical, just 1.0% of students default in three years. There are approximately 8,996 students at DePaul that take at least one class online. About 3,547 of the students at DePaul are attending part time.
Loyola Marymount University landed the #9 spot in our 2021 best film, video & photographic arts schools for non-traditional students. Located in the city of Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population. Loyola Marymount not only placed well in our non-traditional rankings. It is also #9 on our Best Colleges for Film, Video & Photographic Arts list.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.9%. There are approximately 4,981 students at Loyola Marymount that take at least one class online. About 764 of the students at Loyola Marymount are attending part time.
Florida State University landed the #10 spot in our 2021 best film, video & photographic arts schools for non-traditional students. Located in the city of Tallahassee, Florida State is a public school with a very large student population. On top of its placing in our non-traditional rankings, Florida State also did well on our Best Colleges for Film, Video & Photographic Arts list. It's in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in that analysis.
The student loan default rate at Florida State is lower than is typical, just 1.0% of students default in three years. Approximately 20,172 students take at least one class online at Florida State. About 8,311 of the students at Florida State are attending part time.
University of California - Los Angeles landed the #11 spot in our 2021 best film, video & photographic arts schools for non-traditional students. UCLA is a fairly large public school located in the city of Los Angeles. UCLA also claimed a spot on our Best Colleges for Film, Video & Photographic Arts list. It's in the top 10% of all schools in this category.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.7%. There are approximately 25,859 students at UCLA that take at least one class online. There are roughly 2,161 part time students in attendance at UCLA.
The New School earned the #12 spot in our 2021 rankings. New School University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 2.1%. Approximately 5,293 students take at least one class online at New School University. 1,257 of New School University students are attending part time.
Our rankings recognize Academy of Art University as the #13 school in this year's rankings. Located in the city of San Francisco, Academy of Art University is a private for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
The school has a low student loan default rate of 1.2%. 4,441 of Academy of Art University students are exclusively distance learners. About 3,981 of the students at Academy of Art University are attending part time.
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Colleges for Non-Traditional Students award.
Non-Traditional Student Rankings in Majors Related to Film
One of 10 majors within the Visual & Performing Arts area of study, Film, Video & Photographic Arts has other similar majors worth exploring.
Notes and References
Footnotes
*Avg Cost is for the top 25 schools only.
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 the rest 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).
In <nil>, 12,366 people earned their bachelor's in film, video & photographic arts, making the major the #42 most popular in the United States.
