An independent directory of verified film degrees in the United States
51 schools · page 1 of 3
Listed alphabetically by school. This directory is not a ranking — editorial selections are published separately under Top Schools. What we list
San Francisco, CAPrivate for-profit
Academy of Art University in San Francisco offers BFA, MA and MFA degrees in Motion Pictures & Television and BFA and MFA degrees in Writing for Film, Television & Digital Media, most available both on campus and online. Undergraduate admission is open; production courses use the school's soundstages, camera room and editing bays.
Los Angeles, CAPrivate nonprofit
The AFI Conservatory is a graduate-only film school in Los Angeles that awards a two-year, full-time MFA in six disciplines, five of them in film craft areas covered here. Fellows team across disciplines on short films and a 20-minute thesis film.
Wilmore, KYPrivate nonprofit
Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, a Christian university, offers a BA in Media Communication with Film Production and Screenwriting concentrations, and online MFA programs in Film & Television Production and in Screenwriting that include a required off-campus Los Angeles media workshop.
Boston, MAPrivate nonprofit
Boston University's College of Communication Department of Film & Television offers a BS in Film & Television, a 60-unit MFA in Screenwriting with a final semester in Los Angeles, and a 64-unit MFA in Film & Television Studies. The College of Arts & Sciences offers a BA in Cinema & Media Studies. The MFA in Cinema & Media Production is listed in the Bulletin but not currently accepting applications.
Valencia, CAPrivate nonprofit
CalArts' School of Film/Video offers a four-year BFA and a three-year MFA in Film and Video, oriented toward independent, experimental and documentary practice, and a three-year MFA in Film Directing focused on narrative filmmaking. Animation programs are offered in the same school. Tuition for 2026-27 is a single full-time rate for BFA and MFA programs.
Northridge, CAPublic
CSUN's Department of Cinema and Television Arts offers a BA in Cinema and Television Arts with options including Film Production, Screenwriting and Media Theory and Criticism, an evening MFA in Screenwriting, and an online MA in Entertainment Industry Management.
Orange, CAPrivate nonprofit
Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts in Orange, California, offers MFA programs in film production (with directing, cinematography and editing emphases), screenwriting and film and television producing, an MA in film and media studies, and BFA programs in film and television production and in writing for film and television. Graduate thesis films receive a $20,000 production contribution from the college.
Chicago, ILPrivate nonprofit
Columbia College Chicago's School of Film and Television offers a BA and a BFA in Film and Television, an MFA in Film and Television Directing and an online MA in Screenwriting and Development. Facilities listed by the school include equipment centers, a Media Production Center with three soundstages, post-production suites and the 260-seat Film Row Cinema.
New York, NYPrivate nonprofit
Columbia College offers a major in Film and Media Studies, a 36-point program rooted in film history and theory with screenwriting and filmmaking labs. The department's graduate film programs are run by the School of the Arts, whose website could not be fetched for this record.
Brooklyn, NYPublic
Brooklyn College (CUNY) teaches graduate film at the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema at Steiner Studios, offering an MFA in Cinema Arts and an MA in Screen Studies; its undergraduate Film Department offers a BA in Film with tracks in film studies, film production, screenwriting, documentary production and industry studies. MFA students pay an Academic Excellence Fee in addition to CUNY tuition.
Chicago, ILPrivate nonprofit
DePaul's School of Cinematic Arts, part of the Jarvis College of Computing and Digital Media in Chicago, offers MFA degrees in film and television directing, screenwriting, documentary and creative producing (the last based in Los Angeles), an MS in Film and Television, and BA and BFA degrees in Film & Television. Production classes use the school's DePaul Cinespace Studios facility, which includes six shooting stages and equipment checkout.
Boston, MAPrivate nonprofit
Emerson College's School of Film, Television, and Media Arts in Boston offers a BFA in Film, Television, and Media Arts, a BA in Media Arts Production, a Global BFA in Film Art with Paris College of Art, an on-campus MFA in Film and Media Art and a low-residency MFA in Writing for Film and Television. Students can also take courses and internships at Emerson Los Angeles.
Tallahassee, FLPublic
Florida State University's College of Motion Picture Arts offers a BFA in Motion Picture Arts with majors in Production and in Animation and Digital Arts, and a conservatory MFA in Motion Picture Arts with majors in Production and Writing. The college states that it pays virtually all student laboratory, workshop and capstone production expenses; a per-semester film equipment fee applies to all majors.
Winter Park, FLPrivate for-profit
Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, offers a campus Film Production MFA, a campus Film BS, an online Digital Cinematography BS, and Visual Arts BS completion programs with Film (campus) or Digital Cinematography (online) concentrations. Programs run on an accelerated, month-by-month course sequence with monthly starts, and tuition includes a program-specific hardware and software package (Project LaunchBox).
Cambridge, MAPrivate nonprofit
At Harvard, film is taught in the Department of Art, Film, and Visual Studies: the undergraduate concentration includes film/video making and film and visual studies areas, and Harvard Griffin GSAS offers a PhD in Film and Visual Studies.
Roanoke, VAPrivate nonprofit
Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia, offers an undergraduate BA in Film that combines film and video production with film history and theory, and a two-year, primarily online MFA in Screenwriting with an annual two-week Summer Writers Intensive on campus.
Washington, DCPrivate nonprofit
Howard University's Department of Media, Journalism, and Film in the Cathy Hughes School of Communications offers a 60-credit MFA in Film, established in 1983, and a BA in Media, Journalism and Film with a Television & Film Production concentration. Students borrow department equipment through a professor-approved reservation and a signed liability form.
Bloomington, INPublic
Indiana University Bloomington's Media School offers a BFA in Cinematic Arts ending in a two-semester thesis film, a BA in Media with concentrations in Cinema and Media Studies and in Film, Television and Digital Production, and an MS in Media with a documentary/nonfiction production concentration.
Ithaca, NYPrivate nonprofit
Ithaca College teaches film at the undergraduate level, mainly in the Roy H. Park School of Communications: BFAs in Film and in Writing for Film, Television, and Emerging Media, a BS in Television, Film, and Digital Media, a BA in Documentary Studies and Production, and an interdisciplinary BA in Film Studies.
Baltimore, MDPrivate nonprofit
Johns Hopkins offers an undergraduate BA in Film and Media Studies in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, combining critical studies with screenwriting and filmmaking courses, and a 33-credit MA in Film and Media through Advanced Academic Programs, taught in person at the JHU/MICA Film Centre in Baltimore.