An independent directory of verified film degrees in the United States
51 schools · page 3 of 3
Listed alphabetically by school. This directory is not a ranking — editorial selections are published separately under Top Schools. What we list
Santa Barbara, CAPublic
UC Santa Barbara's Department of Film and Media Studies offers a critical-studies BA in Film and Media Studies, which includes a required production course, and a funded M.A./Ph.D. and Ph.D.-only program in Film and Media Studies. Screenings and visiting-artist events take place in the Pollock Theater.
Santa Cruz, CAPublic
UC Santa Cruz's Film and Digital Media Department offers a BA in Film and Digital Media with an Integrated Critical Practice concentration, a two-year MFA in Social Documentation centered on documentary filmmaking, and a PhD in Film and Digital Media combining media studies with creative practice. The PhD is not accepting applications for the 2027 cohort.
Chicago, ILPrivate nonprofit
The University of Chicago's Department of Cinema and Media Studies offers a PhD in cinema and media studies, with published full funding for admitted students, and an undergraduate major in the College with standard and intensive (written or production thesis) tracks. The Film Studies Center holds 35mm and 16mm film collections and screening spaces.
Iowa City, IAPublic
The Department of Cinematic Arts in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers BAs in Cinema and Screenwriting Arts, a three-year MFA in Film and Video Production, and an MA and PhD in Film Studies. Graduate students are typically funded through teaching assistantships.
Coral Gables, FLPrivate nonprofit
The University of Miami School of Communication's Department of Cinematic Arts offers a B.S.C. in Motion Pictures with six tracks, a three-year M.F.A. in Motion Pictures with production, screenwriting and producing concentrations, and a two-year M.F.A. in Documentary run with the Department of Journalism and Media Management.
Winston Salem, NCPublic
The UNCSA School of Filmmaking in Winston-Salem offers a BFA in Filmmaking in which all first-year students work across every production role before specializing in a concentration such as cinematography, directing, picture editing and sound design, producing or screenwriting. At the graduate level it offers a two-year MFA in Filmmaking with concentrations in Creative Producing and Screenwriting (plus Film Music Composition).
Pittsburgh, PAPublic
Pitt's interdisciplinary Film and Media Studies Program in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences offers a BA in Film and Media Studies with a Critical Studies track and a Film and Media Production track, and a PhD in Film and Media Studies taken together with an associated department.
Los Angeles, CAPrivate nonprofit
The USC School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles offers film degrees through separate divisions for film and television production, writing for screen and television, cinema and media studies, and the Peter Stark Producing Program. Graduate degrees include MFAs in production, writing and producing, and an MA and PhD in cinema and media studies.
Salt Lake City, UTPublic
The University of Utah's Department of Film & Media Arts offers a BA in Film and Media Arts with optional Film Production or Animation emphases and a three-year MFA in Film & Media Arts focused on fiction and documentary filmmaking.
Winston Salem, NCPrivate nonprofit
Wake Forest's graduate film education is the Documentary Film Program, which offers a two-year MFA and a one-year MA with a sports storytelling emphasis, both mixing online summer courses with on-campus semesters. Undergraduates can take a Film Studies concentration in the BA in Critical and Creative Media.
New Haven, CTPrivate nonprofit
Yale's Film and Media Studies Program offers a BA major that combines history, theory and criticism with production courses, and a PhD in Film and Media Studies that can be taken as a stand-alone track or combined with one of eleven humanities disciplines. Resources cited by the program include the Yale Film Archive and screening rooms equipped for 35mm, 16mm and digital projection.