collageDid you spend some time looking through the internet searching for information about best colleges for film and photography? Do you get confused by all the conflicting information you see online? You need not worry as this article below have provided the answer to this question.
Before reading more of this article, you can find updated information on best colleges for film and photography as well as details information on what is the best college for photography, what is the best college for filmmaking, what is the best college to go to for photography, best colleges for film and media studies, best universities for film production on collegelearners.
The Top 25 American Film Schools
As cultural, social and technological change rock the entertainment industry, these top colleges and universities — from USC to AFI — are training the next generation of cinematic geniuses.
. USC
LOS ANGELESPHOTO : USC SCHOOL OF CINEMATIC ARTS
USC has been churning out great filmmakers since Douglas Fairbanks, Darryl Zanuck and Irving Thalberg were teaching classes there. From James Ivory (’57) to Robert Zemeckis (’73) to Doug Liman?(’92) and up to Ryan Coogler (’11) — they all learned how to point ?a camera on this Exposition Park campus. For Ride Along director Tim Story (’91), that history was one of the school’s big selling points. “It was my admiration for George Lucas,” he explains why he applied, referring to class of 1969’s most famous pupil (also most generous; Lucas donated another $10 million last year). “That it was 20 minutes away from?where I [grew up] didn’t hurt either.” This year, the school got ?a new animation director — Teresa Cheng, who’s worked at Warner Bros., DreamWorks and Lucasfilm — and teamed with the State Department to launch the Middle East Media Initiative to support collaborations with filmmakers in Saudi Arabia (which just lifted a 35-year ban on movie theaters). But of all the things USC has going for it — including its master classes (Lisa Kudrow taught one on comedy this year), its state-of-the-art VR Lab and its program for video game designers — the thing that keeps this school on the very top of this list, for the sixth year in a row, is its world-class faculty. Says Planet of the Apes scribe Amanda Silver (’89), “There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t refer back to what I learned with those teachers.”
2. New York University
NEW YORKPHOTO : COURTESY OF NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
Since director Cathy Yan graduated just two years ago — with a dual degree in cinema and business, something no other ?film school offers — she’s gone on to make the 2018 Sundance darling Dead Pigs and just got hired to direct Marvel’s Harley Quinn movie with Margot Robbie. The Handmaid’s Tale director Reed Morano (’01) only got one degree but still became the first female director to win a drama Emmy in 22 years, while Mudbound director Dee Rees (’07) got nominated last year for screenwriting and Rachel Morrison (’00) became the first female cinematographer to ?be nominated for an Oscar. Says Alec Baldwin, who graduated from the East Coast’s premier film school back in 1993, “New York City is where you go to get serious ?about a career in the arts. Nowhere has as many possibilities as New York. Nowhere. And at the top of that New York list is NYU.”
3. American Film Institute
LOS ANGELESPHOTO : COURTESY OF AFI
New dean Richard Gladstein has made some small improvements to this bucolic Los Angeles campus (there’s now a cafe!) and some big ones, too (hiring Juno producer Lianne Halfon as the head of the producing discipline). But perhaps the most striking transformation has been the school’s focus on female filmmakers. This year’s class, for the first time, has a 50-50 male-female ratio. There’s also a new intensive course for cinematographers that gives 20 female students a tuition-free ride. Female alumnae, meanwhile, continue to make cracks in the glass ceiling, like Rachel Morrison (class of ’06, after she got her undergraduate degree at NYU) and Patty Jenkins (’00), who last year became the highest-grossing female director with Wonder Woman. “They were more focused on clarifying what your vision was, and then on whether you were executing it well,” Jenkins tells THR of her time as a student. “That is a lesson that needs highlighting in a world of so many cool tools and superficial things.”
4. UCLA
LOS ANGELESPHOTO : ANGELA WEISS/GETTY IMAGES
Not everyone’s homework assignment gets watched ?by a nationwide audience. But MFA student Steven Canals (’15) sold the pilot he wrote for course 284B (Writing Television Drama Scripts) to Ryan Murphy. Today, that pilot is FX’s transgender drama Pose, which was renewed for a second season. And Canals isn’t the only one turning schoolwork into a career: Gaia Violo (’15) sold her writing assignment, a pilot for an FBI mystery called Absentia, to Sony’s global pay channel AXN (Amazon picked it up for the U.S.), while a group of seven other grad students recently collaborated on Waterschool, a documentary co-produced by jewelry company Swarovski about the world’s fresh-water supply, which ended up getting sold to Netflix. Cutting-edge facilities (including an Oculus NextGen VR lab), generous donors (who gave more than $3 million to students this year) and full-ride graduate scholarships (including programs for female students from India and the Arab world) all put UCLA high on this list. “Those three years were invaluable,” says Canals. “I wouldn’t have a career if it weren’t for UCLA.”
5. Columbia University
NEW YORKPHOTO : DOSFOTOS/NEWSCOM
It was impossible to attend a film festival this year without bumping into a Columbia grad. Six films made by alumni played at Cannes in May, including HBO’s Fahrenheit 451, directed by faculty ?member Ramin Bahrani. No ?fewer than 42 alumni and faculty were represented at Sundance, with movies like Nancy, written ?and directed by Christina Choe (’12) and edited by David Gutnik (’12). Even the school’s growing digital storytelling lab, launched just two years ago, had ?a presence in Park City; the ?lab’s founder and director, Lance Weiler, premiered an AI version ?of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein ?at Sundance. Meanwhile, back on ?its Upper West Side campus, students have been getting used to the university’s newly constructed Lenfest Center for the Arts, which includes a 150-seat state-of-the-art theater, as well as the school’s brand-new postproduction center.
6. Chapman University
ORANGE, CALIFORNIAPHOTO : COURTESY OF CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY
“We want to be disruptive,” says dean Bob Bassett. ?”The most disruptive company today is Netflix, and Ted Sarandos is on my board.” If being disruptive means attracting some of the biggest, most powerful names ?in the industry to your campus ?— and not just Sarandos’ son, ?who recently graduated, but faculty members like former Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs — then mission accomplished. “Chapman put a camera in our hands on day one and ?we learned how to edit on Avid the first week,” say Matt and Ross Duffer (the twin Stranger Things creators both graduated in ’07) of their time at the school. “Chapman is always looking toward the future.” In the present, three Netflix shows are being produced by Chapman grads: along with ?the Duffers’ show, there’s Dear White People, created by Justin Simien (’05), and Everything Sucks!, by Michael Mohan and Ben York Jones (both ’02).
7. California Institute of the Arts
VALENCIA, CALIFORNIAPHOTO : COURTESY OF SCOTT GROLLER/CALARTS
Not surprisingly, the school ?Walt Disney built is killing it in animation. This year, Adrian Molina (’06) won an Oscar for ?co-directing Coco, while Glen Keane (’74) won best animated ?short for Dear Basketball. Brad Bird (’76) crossed $1 billion at the box office with Incredibles 2,while Hotel Transylvania 3, directed by Genndy Tartakovsky (’92), grossed $340 million worldwide. But of course there’s more to the cinematic arts than cartoons, which is why the school continues to push resources into its live-action and cinematography courses, with recent technical upgrades including new digital cameras and boosted network storage. “I had never been in such a creative place,” says Andrew Ahn (’11), whose film Spa Night won the 2017 John Cassavetes Independent Spirit Award. “My brain felt like it was rewiring.
Columbus College of Art & Design
Welcome to Columbus College of Art & Design. We’re one of the country’s top art and design colleges, and we’ve been here for quite a while — more than 141 years, to be exact. But while we’re proud of our history, we’re even more excited with where we are today and where we’re headed next.
At CCAD, you’ll find state-of-the-art facilities, a faculty composed of industry professionals, and a student body of artists and designers who, like you, have creative ambition, talent, and a desire to change culture and commerce for the better. You’ll pursue your passion in the midst of a campus that supports healthy creativity and the development of students as individuals as well as artists and designers. And our campus’ size is small enough for you to build close, meaningful connections with other students, faculty, and staff in and outside of your major — but it’s also large enough to attract a diverse student population from around the world.
Columbus College of Art & Design 2019
The 2019 rankings placed California Institute of the Arts (Calarts) in fourth ahead of National Film and Television School (NFTS) into fifth; while New York Film Academy (NYFA) ranked sixth, and NYU Tisch School of the Arts seventh.
Overall, among the top 10 best film schools in the world, the eighth, ninth, and tenth positions are held by Toronto Film School in Canada, Australia’s Sydney Film School, and Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in India.
Best Film Schools In The World For 2019Search:
| Rank | Film school | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | USC School of Cinematic Arts | United States |
| 2 | American Film Institute (AFI) | United States |
| 3 | UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television at the University of California | United States |
| 4 | California Institute of the Arts (Calarts) | United States |
| 5 | National Film and Television School (NFTS) | United Kingdom |
| 6 | New York Film Academy (NYFA) | United States |
| 7 | NYU Tisch School of the Arts | United States |
| 8 | Toronto Film School | Canada |
| 9 | Sydney Film School | Australia |
| 10 | Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) | India |
| 11 | ArtCenter College of Design, California | United States |
| 12 | Boston University Dept. Film & Television, College of Communication | United States |
| 13 | Centro de Capacitacion Cinematografica (CCC) | Mexico |
| 14 | National School of Drama (or NSD), New Delhi | India |
| 15 | Colorado Film School, Denver | United States |
| 16 | Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, California | United States |
| 17 | Columbia University School of the Arts | United States |
| 18 | London Film School, England | United Kingdom |
| 19 | Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts | United States |
| 20 | Sam Spiegel Film & Television School, Jerusalem | Israel |
| 21 | Los Angeles Film School – LA Film School | United States |
| 22 | Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), Kolkata | India |
| 23 | Pratt Institute, New Tork | United States |
| 24 | La Femis, Paris | France |
| 25 | FAMU – Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague | Czech Republic |
| 26 | Beijing Film Academy (BFA) | China |
| 27 | Korean Academy of Film Arts (KAFA), Busan | South Korea |
| 28 | Tel Aviv University – The David and Yolanda Katz Faculty of the Arts | Israel |
| 29 | Lodz Film School | Poland |
| 30 | Vancouver Film School | Canada |
USC School of Cinematic Arts, United States: Thanks to significant contributions from alumni as well as the non-graduate Steven Spielberg, USC SCA is the richest film school in the world. Since 1973, the SCA is the proud holder of an incredible record: at least one of their alumnus has been nominated for an Academy Award every year. This has resulted in 256 nominations and 78 wins. That explains why the CEOWORLD magazine has ranked it the best film school in the world!
- Degrees: B.A., M.A., MFA and Ph.D. programs in film, TV, animation, interactive media
- Famous alumni: Richard Edlund is a joint winner of the Oscars for Best Effects, Visual Effects for Star Wars (1977) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Jon Landau won the Oscar for Best Picture for Titanic (1997). George Lucas, who created the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises.
American Film Institute (AFI), United States: The accredited AFI Conservatory provides training in 6 filmmaking disciplines: cinematography, production design, directing, producing, editing, and screenwriting. According to the CEOWORLD magazine, AFI is the second-best film school in the world.
- Degrees: MFA, Certificate of Completion
- Famous alumni: Doug Ellin is widely known for creating the HBO television series Entourage. Wally Pfister won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for Inception (2010). Janusz Kamiński won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for Schindler’s List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998).
The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television at the University of California, Los Angeles, United States: UCLA was the first leading university had combined all three aspects: theater, film, and television into a single administration. Its Archive is the second largest collection of media materials in the United States — only the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. is larger!
- Degrees: MFA, Certificate of Completion
- Famous alumni: Eric Roth won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (Forrest Gump). Tim Robbins is popularly known for his role as Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption (1994). He won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his work in Mystic River (2003). Francis Ford Coppola won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as co-writer, sharing it with Edmund H. North for Patton (1970).
California Institute of the Arts (Calarts), United States: Calarts was founded by the pioneer of the American animation industry, Walt Disney in 1961. Schools at CalArts include School of Film/Video, School of Theater, School of Art, School of Critical Studies, The Herb Alpert School of Music, The Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance.
- Degrees: BFA, BFA in character animation; MFA in film, video and experimental animation, MFA in directing
- Famous alumni: Director Tim Burton, MacArthur “genius grant” recipient Mark Bradford, and actors Ed Harris, Don Cheadle, Alison Brie are some of the well-known alumni.
The National Film and Television School (NFTS), Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom: Since the NFTS has its own TV and film studios, their student community makes around 150 films a year on courses. Another impressive fact about NFTs is that 70% of their graduates find jobs in the industry.
- Top 15 Best Colleges for Film Majors
Film majors in college learn about the history of film, how to analyze films, and how to produce their own original media. The major is perfect for students with a penchant for both creating art and studying the humanities.
Graduates of Film Studies are well-equipped to create innovative media (individually, or as a team) and see long-term projects through to fruition. The major also prepares them to write clearly, think analytically, and conduct research. For that reason, Film majors not only go on to careers in the film sector, but also other fields involving media, such as marketing, business, and design.
In this post, we’ll be sharing the top 15 best colleges for film majors, why their film departments stand out, and what it takes to get into these schools. See the complete list of top schools for film.
Top 15 Best Colleges for Film Majors
Click on the school to jump to a description of its film department. Keep in mind that this admissions data is for the entire university, and that stats may be different for colleges within each university (if applicable).
| School Name | Location | Acceptance Rate (2019) | Middle 50% SAT Scores | Middle 50% ACT Scores |
| 1. University of Southern California (USC) | Los Angeles, CA | 11.4% | 1270-1490 | 28-34 |
| 2. UCLA | Los Angeles, CA | 12.3% | 1290-1510 | 27-34 |
| 3. Chapman University | Orange, CA | 53.6% (2018) | 1190-1380 | 25-31 |
| 4. New York University (NYU) | New York, NY | 15% (2020) | 1350-1530 | 30-34 |
| 5. Wesleyan University | Middletown, CT | 19.8% (2020) | 1450-1560 | 33-35 |
| 6. UT Austin | Austin, TX | 31.8% | 1170-1400 | 27-33 |
| 7. Columbia University | New York, NY | 5.3% | 1480-1560 | 33-35 |
| 8. ArtCenter College of Design | Pasadena, CA | 58% (2018) | 1216 (average) | N/A |
| 9. Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) | Providence, RI | 20% | 1343 (average) | N/A |
| 10. Ringling College of Art and Design | Sarasota, FL | 67% | N/A | N/A |
| 11. Syracuse University | Syracuse, NY | 50% (2018) | 1270 (average) | 28 (average) |
| 12. Emerson College | Boston, MA | 35.6% (2018) | 1220-1380 | 27-31 |
| 13. Loyola Marymount University | Los Angeles, CA | 43.8% | 1250-1400 | 27-31 |
| 14. University of North Carolina School of the Arts | Winston-Salem, NC | 38.2% (2018) | 1090-1280 | 22-28 |
| 15. California College of the Arts | Oakland, CA | 88% | N/A | N/A |
View more top schools for film majors
1. University of Southern California (USC)
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Acceptance Rate: 11.4%
Total Undergrad Enrollment: 19,907
Middle 50% SAT/ACT: 1270-1490 SAT, 28-34 ACT
The USC School of Cinematic Arts is divided into seven divisions, allowing students to focus on:
- Animation & digital art
- Cinema & media studies
- Film & television production
- Interactive media & games
- Media arts + practice
- Producing
- Writing for screen & television
- Business of cinematic arts
The school offers B.A. or B.F.A. degrees in nearly all of the divisions, minus Producing (it’s a graduate program only). The USC School of Cinematic Arts is the only media school in the world to offer programs in all major components of cinematic arts. Students take courses across all seven divisions, and get to work hands-on in their specific fields of interest.
2. University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA)
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Acceptance Rate: 12.3%
Total Undergrad Enrollment: 31,577
Middle 50% SAT/ACT: 1290-1510 SAT, 27-34 ACT
The UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television offers a B.A. in Film and Television. Students will receive a liberal arts education, along with taking courses in cinema and media studies, production, and film and television craft. In their senior year, Film and Television majors focus on their area of specialty, from directing to animation. As part of their degree, they must also complete an internship as an upperclassman.
3. Chapman University
Location: Orange, CA
Acceptance Rate: 53.6% (2018)
Total Undergrad Enrollment: 7,281
Middle 50% SAT/ACT: 1190-1380 SAT, 25-31 ACT
The Chapman University Dodge College of Film and Media Arts offers a highly-respected B.A. in Film Studies, among many other film- and media-related programs. Film majors at Chapman will study film history, genres, and diversity in the industry. They will learn to analyze films using classical and contemporary theory, and produce high-quality research papers.
4. New York University (NYU)
Location: New York, NY
Acceptance Rate: 15% (2020)
Total Undergrad Enrollment: 26,733
Middle 50% SAT/ACT: 1350-1530 SAT, 30-34 ACT
NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts has one of the most prestigious film programs, and its alumni have many impressive accomplishments, from directing The Handmaid’s Tale to Harry Potter to Beyonce’s Lemonade. Students in the Kanbar Institute of Film & Television will gain a liberal arts education along with their specialized film instruction. Interested students may also apply for the dual degree (B.S. in Business and B.F.A. in Film and Television) offered by Tisch and NYU’s highly-selective Stern School of Business.
5. Wesleyan University
Location: Middletown, CT
Acceptance Rate: 19.8% (2020)
Total Undergrad Enrollment: 3,009
Middle 50% SAT/ACT: 1450-1560 SAT, 33-35 ACT
Wesleyan University is a liberal arts college with an open curriculum, meaning that there are no required courses outside of your major. To be eligible for the Film Studies major at Wesleyan, you must take two prerequisite courses and get a B+ or higher. The major is interdisciplinary, and involves history, analysis, and production. Students of the College of Film and Moving Image also have access to the Wesleyan Cinema Archives, the Wesleyan Film Series, and the Filmmaking Club.
collage