2025 Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region
47Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region
3,128Film Degrees Awarded
$25,982Avg 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.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 47 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 3,128 degrees in film, video & photographic arts annually.
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.
Choosing a Great Film, Video & Photographic Arts School
The film program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Film, Video & Photographic Arts rankings. 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.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
Film, Video & Photographic Arts Rankings by Degree Level
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 the Middle Atlantic Region 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.
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.
Best Schools for Film, Video & Photographic Arts in the Middle Atlantic Region
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.
It's hard to beat New York University if you wish to pursue a degree in film, video & photographic arts. NYU is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York. A Best Colleges rank of #16 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means NYU is a great university overall.
There were roughly 465 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at NYU in the most recent data year. After graduation, film degree recipients generally make an average of $22,591 at the beginning of their careers.
Ithaca College is a good option for students pursuing a degree in film, video & photographic arts. Located in the suburb of Ithaca, Ithaca is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population. This college ranks 23rd out of 136 colleges for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were approximately 108 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at Ithaca in the most recent year we have data available. After graduation, film degree recipients typically earn around $23,782 in their early careers.
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.
Temple University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in film, video & photographic arts. Temple is a very large public university located in the large city of Philadelphia. This university ranks 8th out of 103 schools for overall quality in the state of Pennsylvania.
There were roughly 180 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at Temple in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the film program report average early career wages of $24,345.
American University is a wonderful decision for students interested in a degree in film, video & photographic arts. Located in the city of Washington, The American University is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #61 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means The American University is a great university overall.
There were about 97 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at The American University in the most recent data year. Those film, video & photographic arts students who get their degree from American University make $12,848 more than the average film graduate.
UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Philadelphia. A Best Colleges rank of #2 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.
There were about 20 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent data year.
Located in the midsize city of Syracuse, Syracuse is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #62 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Syracuse is a great university overall.
There were about 64 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at Syracuse in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the film program make an average of $26,331 for their early career.
Located in the suburb of Rochester, RIT is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population. This school ranks 13th out of 136 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were approximately 137 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at RIT in the most recent year we have data available. Those film, video & photographic arts students who get their degree from Rochester Institute of Technology make $2,876 more than the average film grad.
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.
FIT SUNY is a moderately-sized public school located in the large city of New York. A Best Colleges rank of #32 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means FIT SUNY is a great school overall.
There were about 32 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at FIT SUNY in the most recent data year.
Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York. A Best Colleges rank of #15 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Columbia is a great university overall.
There were approximately 99 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent data year. Those film, video & photographic arts students who get their degree from Columbia University in the City of New York make $5,105 more than the standard film student.
University at Buffalo is a very large public university located in the large suburb of Buffalo. This university ranks 18th out of 136 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were about 66 film, video & photographic arts students who graduated with this degree at University at Buffalo in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, film degree recipients typically earn an average of $26,630 in their early careers.
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 Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region award.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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).
The film program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Film, Video & Photographic Arts rankings. 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.
