Major Rankings

Best Colleges for Film/Video and Photographic Arts

Ranked by graduate earnings. Data from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard — updated 2026.

Programs tracked: 140

Avg grad salary: $34,720

Total graduates: 10,737

Top Colleges for Film/Video and Photographic Arts — Ranked by Graduate Earnings

Showing schools with reported earnings data. Earnings reflect median graduate salary 4 years after graduation (or 1 year where 4-year data is unavailable).

#	School	Median Salary (4yr)	Starting Salary (1yr)	Graduates	Median Debt	Admit Rate
1	American University Washington, DC	$58,692	$26,767	56	$23,250	47.4%
2	Tufts University Medford, MA	N/A	$56,418	17	N/A	10.1%
3	Kennesaw State University Kennesaw, GA	N/A	$51,772	37	$27,000	69.2%
4	Chapman University Orange, CA	$51,451	$35,795	156	$19,123	55.6%
5	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL	$48,058	$31,689	36	$20,476	25.4%
6	USC Los Angeles, CA	$48,046	$34,187	194	$21,687	10.0%
7	UC Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	$47,214	$28,608	136	$15,000	27.8%
8	NYU New York, NY	$46,932	$23,869	266	$22,250	9.4%
9	University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI	$46,789	$25,565	96	$19,760	17.9%
10	Rhode Island School of Design Providence, RI	$45,571	$17,701	44	$27,000	13.8%
11	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ	$45,458	$26,054	65	$21,500	85.7%
12	UCLA Los Angeles, CA	$44,860	$29,696	26	$19,000	8.7%
13	UC Davis Davis, CA	$44,697	$19,258	46	$18,000	41.6%
14	Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY	$44,230	$28,028	27	$17,993	17.7%
15	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	$44,182	$25,506	49	$12,000	69.2%
16	University at Buffalo Buffalo, NY	$42,962	$26,630	57	$24,509	69.3%
17	CUNY Hunter College New York, NY	$42,820	$24,869	49	$7,134	54.0%
18	Ithaca College Ithaca, NY	$42,620	$23,782	120	$25,000	69.9%
19	Emerson College Boston, MA	$42,467	$27,032	460	$24,250	47.5%
20	CUNY Brooklyn College Brooklyn, NY	$42,028	$20,476	112	$13,622	53.7%
21	California State University-Sacramento Sacramento, CA	$41,945	$24,618	102	$16,205	93.6%
22	Utah Valley University Orem, UT	N/A	$41,833	22	N/A	N/A
23	Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY	$41,750	$28,858	171	$27,000	71.4%
24	University of Miami Coral Gables, FL	$41,672	$35,485	37	$18,500	18.5%
25	California Institute of the Arts Valencia, CA	$41,552	$28,247	51	$27,000	25.9%
26	Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA	$41,149	$24,561	65	$23,250	40.3%
27	University of California-Riverside Riverside, CA	$41,093	$24,840	212	$20,500	63.3%
28	Montclair State University Montclair, NJ	$40,565	$28,474	66	$27,000	87.4%
29	CUNY City College New York, NY	$40,554	$26,918	25	N/A	58.1%
30	Keene State College Keene, NH	$40,407	$27,261	36	$27,000	89.1%
31	DePaul University Chicago, IL	$40,247	$26,164	205	$24,717	73.5%
32	UC Irvine Irvine, CA	$40,166	$21,397	103	$16,300	25.6%
33	Binghamton University Vestal, NY	$39,864	$22,843	19	N/A	37.7%
34	Woodbury University Burbank, CA	$39,600	$32,477	33	$27,000	72.9%
35	UC Berkeley Berkeley, CA	$39,506	$29,011	48	$15,693	11.7%
36	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA	$39,386	$18,654	220	$17,850	96.2%
37	Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI	$39,307	$26,502	58	$27,000	84.7%
38	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	$39,168	$22,601	41	$20,000	83.3%
39	Bowling Green State University-Main Campus Bowling Green, OH	$39,043	$19,803	54	$26,000	80.6%
40	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA	$38,897	$19,758	49	$25,379	77.5%
41	Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA	$38,708	$23,126	49	$23,000	90.2%
42	Kansas City Art Institute Kansas City, MO	$38,694	$22,619	19	$27,000	60.4%
43	Pace University New York, NY	$38,627	$20,775	71	$25,238	77.1%
44	Rutgers University New Brunswick, NJ	N/A	$38,508	44	$23,250	65.3%
45	Rutgers University-Newark Newark, NJ	N/A	$38,508	44	$23,250	78.7%
46	California State University-Northridge Northridge, CA	$38,385	$27,290	82	$18,266	93.2%
47	Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA	$38,301	$23,109	90	$26,000	93.1%
48	Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ	$38,243	$23,418	18	$19,000	91.0%
49	Texas State University San Marcos, TX	$38,157	$33,610	16	$26,864	89.5%
50	George Mason University Fairfax, VA	$38,051	$23,989	52	$25,000	88.8%
51	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ	$37,975	$31,148	249	$20,534	90.2%
52	Arizona State University Digital Immersion Scottsdale, AZ	$37,975	$31,148	249	$20,534	64.1%
53	University of North Carolina School of the Arts Winston Salem, NC	$37,583	$24,053	86	$27,000	33.1%
54	University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI	$37,535	$29,634	50	$22,500	77.1%
55	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT	$37,398	$28,138	116	$24,063	87.2%
56	Fordham University Bronx, NY	N/A	$36,704	55	$25,000	56.3%
57	Georgia State University Atlanta, GA	$36,668	$22,588	254	$25,755	62.3%
58	University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus Norman, OK	$36,525	$32,126	23	$24,000	76.5%
59	Savannah College of Art and Design Savannah, GA	$36,365	$23,976	244	$27,000	83.7%
60	Pratt Institute-Main Brooklyn, NY	$36,110	$16,710	73	$27,000	53.2%

Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. Earnings are median among graduates who received federal financial aid.

Choosing the Best Film/Video and Photographic Arts Program

Graduate Earnings

Median salary 4 years post-graduation measures the long-term ROI of a program. Higher earnings with lower debt means better financial outcomes.

Program Size

Graduate count signals program maturity. Larger programs often have stronger alumni networks and more job placement resources.

Debt-to-Earnings Ratio

Compare median debt against starting salary. A ratio below 1x means most graduates can repay loans within a year of earnings.

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