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2023 Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Master's Degree Schools

71 Colleges
$31,916 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Master's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 16,778 people earned a degree or certificate in film, video and photographic arts, making the major the #63 most popular in the United States.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Master's Degree Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 71 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best master's degree programs for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Master’s Degree Schools in the United States

The following schools top our list of the Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Master's Degree Colleges.

Top 10 Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Master's Degree Schools

#1

American University

Washington, DC

Our 2023 rankings named American University the best school in the United States for film, video and photographic arts students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Washington, The American University is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

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#2

Sacred Heart University

Fairfield, CT

Out of the 71 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Sacred Heart University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of Fairfield, Sacred Heart is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

Read full report on Film, Video & Photographic Arts at Sacred Heart University

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend American Film Institute Conservatory. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Master’s Degree Schools list. American Film Institute is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

Full Film, Video & Photographic Arts at American Film Institute Conservatory Report

#4

National University

La Jolla, CA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend National University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Master’s Degree Schools list. National University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of La Jolla.

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#5

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

Out of the 71 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Northwestern University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

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#6

Mount Saint Mary's University

Los Angeles, CA

With a ranking of #6, Mount Saint Mary’s University did quite well on this year’s best schools for film, video and photographic arts students working on their master’s degree. MSMU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

Read full report on Film, Video & Photographic Arts at Mount Saint Mary’s University

#7

Academy of Art University

San Francisco, CA

Academy of Art University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Master’s Degree Schools ranking. Academy of Art University is a medium-sized private for-profit school located in the large city of San Francisco.

Read full report on Film, Video & Photographic Arts at Academy of Art University

#8

Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL

Florida State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for film, video and photographic arts students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Florida State is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Tallahassee.

Full Film, Video & Photographic Arts at Florida State University Report

Columbia University in the City of New York landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree film, video and photographic arts programs. Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.

Read full report on Film, Video & Photographic Arts at Columbia University in the City of New York

University of Southern California ranked #10 on this year’s Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Master’s Degree Schools list. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

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Additional Noteworthy Schools

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 Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
11 Syracuse University Syracuse, NY
11 University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA
13 Brigham Young University - Provo Provo, UT
14 Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA

Film, Video & Photographic Arts by Region

View the Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

One of 10 majors within the area of study, film, video and photographic arts has other similar majors worth exploring.

Majors Similar to Film

Related Major Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts 37,413
Design & Applied Arts 36,301
Music 25,910
Drama & Theater Arts 17,341
General Visual & Performing Arts 6,355

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • 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).

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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