This year marks the 10th time TheWrap has ranked the top 50 U.S. film schools and the second year we’ve partnered with the data research company Screen Engine/ASI to implement a data-driven ranking system. Kevin Goetz’s company created a detailed survey and used the answers to score each institution on a wide variety of factors, which are explained in greater detail in the methodology page at the bottom of this post.
The results were similar to last year’s rankings, with NYU retaining its No. 1 position and 35 of the top 50 institutions landing within five spots of their 2024 ranking. Schools that made substantial jumps this year included the Savannah College of Art and Design, Biola University and California State University, Northridge. Penn State University and Belmont University made the list for the first time, and in addition we’ve included a couple of honorable mentions to watch out for in the future. It’s also worth noting that almost everybody told us they were planning new classes in AI.
50. San Francisco State University
School of Cinema
San Francisco, CA
SFSU has a history that goes back to the early 1960s — the school just hosted its 65th annual Film Finals showcase of student work. While one can see the influence of the city’s counterculture heyday on a program ethos that “champions independent voices” and aims “to amplify our students’ expressions in the form of visual storytelling” regardless of their background, it doesn’t neglect the practical. It is about to acquire a second soundstage, and it encourages cross-disciplinary flexibility by allowing as many as 12 outside credits to count toward the major. For example, someone could load up on marketing courses if they’re interested in the business side or music classes if they’re an aspiring sound designer. On the downside, the overall student-faculty ratio is high (31:1) and the graduation rate a paltry 27%.
49. Rhode Island School of Design
Providence, RI
The Providence-based school’s Film/Animation/Video Program has bolstered its historical strength in animation with the establishment of the Movement Lab, a multidisciplinary research space for students, faculty and visiting artists. Among the program’s donors is Cheryl Henson, daughter of Muppets creator Jim. The school brags that it “cultivates the next generation of media makers by emphasizing curiosity, creative thinking, sociocultural awareness and critical dialogue.” It’s an approach that just helped nab RaMell Ross, ’14, an Oscar nomination for his adapted screenplay, along with a host of best director nods for his film “Nickel Boys.”
48. Belmont University
Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business
Nashville, TN
The Nashville-based Christian school makes its debut in the rankings this year as a result of a $58 million gift, the largest in the school’s history, from music impresario (and onetime California lieutenant governor) Mike Curb that’s earmarked solely for entertainment education. With that contribution, Belmont has been able to build top-notch facilities, including a cinema-size Dolby Atmos mixing environment and a professional-grade remote collaboration hub using Avid MediaCentral. It also maximizes its Nashville location now that Tennessee is a production hotbed, ranking fifth in film and video employment. The program utilizes a practical-oriented approach aimed at getting students jobs after graduation. Still, on a number of metrics — the overall admittance rate (95%), retention (82%) and graduation (64%) — the school has a ways to go to close the gap with other elite options. It failed to provide data on the program’s enrollment and financial-aid stats.
47. University of Pennsylvania
Cinema and Media Studies
Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia’s Ivy League outpost concentrates on the intellectual and academic in its film program, not surprising for America’s oldest undergraduate and graduate degree-granting university. The Cinema and Media Studies Department, a recent upgrade from lesser “program” status, calls itself “a hub for humanistic inquiry into film, television, audiovisual artworks, material texts of various kinds, digital media, as well as environmental media.” The school can point to an enviable group of alumni, among them über-producer Dick Wolf, Oscar winner Morgan Neville and former WGA president Meredith Stiehm. Plenty of opportunities for cross-disciplinary study arise through the Annenberg Media Lab and the Stuart Weitzman School of Design. For those interested in art and business, there’s the world-renowned Wharton School.
46. University of California, Berkeley
Department of Film and Media
Berkeley, CA
Berkeley is one of the most distinguished universities in the country, regularly ranking among the top two or three public schools, and film has been one of its fastest-growing majors over the past few years. But evaluating the program was difficult, as the school did not provide answers to TheWrap’s survey questions. For California residents in particular, it remains one of the best bargains in higher education, with tuition running about $17K, though room and board in the pricey Bay Area community can double that. The budget-conscious should consider two years at a community college followed by a transfer into the film major for the final two years — one of the cheapest elite degrees around. In past years, about half the film majors were CC transfers.
45. Penn State University
Bellisario College of Communications
State College, PA
Entering the rankings for the first time, the Penn State program says it lives by the motto “small-school feel, big-school resources.” Unexpected for a school this size (total undergrad enrollment: 43K), the film major, which is in the Bellisario College of Communications, caps classes at 20 people and has only 150 total majors. To underscore the “big-school resources” part of the motto, the program points to a five-year-old facility that includes a large soundstage, finishing suites, an editing lab and recently upgraded camera equipment. Students apply to the major after three semesters, with a 3.0 GPA pretty much guaranteeing admission. Others can submit a portfolio for consideration, and more than 75% get in. Recognizing that central Pennsylvania can feel outside the LA/NY nexus, the school hosts film-major-exclusive networking events in those cities and brings speakers to campus, including alums like screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker (“Se7en”) and director Michael Fimognari (“To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You”).
44. Morehouse College
Cinema, Television and Emerging Media Studies
Atlanta, GA
Morehouse long ago earned its moniker as the Harvard of HBCUs (historically black colleges and universities) thanks to its nurturing atmosphere and intellectual rigor. It’s an ethos that carries over to the film major, which emphasizes “the unapologetic expectation that majors be collaborative, serious and focused, and demonstrate growth creatively, intellectually, technically and professionally.” Morehouse also touts the small size of the program (just 35 majors) and the faculty mentoring. All that helps offset the absence of the kind of facilities found at bigger or better-endowed programs. The school provides all-expenses-paid travel for shooting and to industry festivals. Guest speakers have recently included Kevin Hooks, Mario Van Peebles and Anthony Mackie. It’s a formula that works: The undergrad-only program consistently claims a graduation rate in the mid-90s.
43. American University
School of Communication
Washington, DC
American notes that its film program, housed in the School of Communication, takes a “blended” approach, exposing students to a wide variety of filmmaking. No surprise that its location in the nation’s capital means that it embraces nonfiction filmmaking. For example, last year it offered internships involving the 2024 campaign and awarded a fellowship centered on bridging the gap between film and investigative journalism. The film program collaborates with the school at large, too. AU has fewer classes than other programs, but film students can cross-enroll in business and entertainment courses and the faculty teaches smartphone filmmaking courses for non-majors.
42. The Los Angeles Film School
Los Angeles, CA
The Hollywood-based institution — it’s in the old RCA building on Sunset Boulevard — founded by working professionals just over 25 years ago sees itself as a model of modern film education. It fuses real-world training and creative freedom, with the goal of preparing students for sustainable, creative careers through hands-on work and collaboration. The facilities include editing, greenscreen and podcast labs and a campus theater. As part of the for-profit undergraduate school’s commitment to “making professional-grade education available to aspiring filmmakers around the world,” 70% of students are enrolled in the online program, but that contributes to a high student-faculty ratio and lower retention and graduation rates than those of other top programs.
41. Stanford University
Department of Art and Art History
Palo Alto, CA
The graduate film program didn’t answer this year’s survey questions, but it appears the fundamentals of the program remain the same: For aspiring documentarians — that’s the only discipline the program teaches — getting in is like winning the lottery. The odds aren’t much better than the lottery’s: Perhaps one in 15 or 20 applicants earn the golden ticket. Admitted students are fully funded, receiving a much-needed housing allowance for the über expensive Palo Alto area. They make two shorts in their first year and a longer thesis film in their second year. It’s a very specific niche, but if that’s your jam, Stanford is among the best options.
40. University of Georgia
Athens, GA
The five-year-old “boutique” grad program numbers just 36 students, allowing for plenty of one-on-one mentorship. UGA offers what it believes is the only year-long course on crowdfunding and community filmmaking, and it holds workshops structured like a real TV writers’ room where students create pilots. The school has a professional casting director on call to help students with their films and works closely with the theater program to supply actors, costumes and stages. It also benefits from the state’s rise as a production hub: Blumhouse hired four UGA students to work on its recent film “The Woman in the Yard.”
39. Full Sail University
Winter Park, FL
The for-profit institution stresses creative thinking combined with hands-on experience, but its facilities are its secret weapon. Its 800K+ square feet of “purpose-built, industry-replicating” production facilities include 10 studios and labs, a Hollywood-style backlot, a virtual production stage and Dolby-certified post facilities. The school also claims to update its curriculum monthly to keep up with changing trends, often in consultation with working professionals on its PAC (program advisory committee). Full Sail features innovative programs with blended in-person and online learning, enabling an undergraduate to get a degree with as little as 20 months of residency and two-and-a-half years of remote study.
38. Wesleyan University
College of Film and the Moving Image
Middletown, CT
Wesleyan stresses that it’s less a film school than a “a holistic liberal-arts program.” It eschews a preprofessional focus—students looking to grab a camera from the get-go will likely be disappointed—in favor of an emphasis on developing a “rich cinematic vocabulary.” The Connecticut school prides itself on turning out graduates that not only think outside the box but can build new boxes as well. That approach has produced an impressive alumni roster for a place with a student body of less than 4,000: filmmakers Michael Bay, Alex Kurtzman, Mike White and Paul Weitz, documentarians Sara Dosa and Lana Wilson and executives Matthew Greenfield (Searchlight), Jenno Topping (Chernin) and Halle Stanford (Jim Henson). Progressive students with a political bent will appreciate that President Michael Roth has emerged as one of the strongest voices for academic freedom and an opponent of the Trump administration’s policies toward higher education.
37. Rutgers University
Filmmaking at Mason Gross School of the Arts
New Brunswick, NJ
New Jersey’s flagship state university may not be in New York City, but the school, located about halfway between NYC and Philadelphia, sells that as an advantage, especially with its proximity to Netflix’s Fort Monmouth Studio and Lionsgate’s $125 million Newark studio complex. The small program lauds its individualized attention and one-on-one faculty mentoring, but it has fewer required courses and opportunities to showcase student films than other top programs. Rutgers’ pride and joy is the Documentary Film Lab, led by Academy Award-winning director Thomas F. Lennon, which has sent students to film at such far-flung locations as Antarctica, Indonesia and Zambia and claims to have produced more than three dozen films. Just this year it won a grant to lead a multi-institution doc project on climate change alongside UPenn, Columbia and Penn State. Rutgers will make four shorts over three years about coastal erosion and the politics of climate change in New Jersey.
36. Ithaca College
Roy H. Park School of Communications
Ithaca, NY
The Roy H. Park School of Communications emphasizes the fundamentals of storytelling with real-world media experiences, including an L.A. program that offers practical opportunities alongside coursework. Back in central New York, students can work at ICTV, the oldest student-run television channel in the U.S., or Park Productions, the student-staffed production outfit that provides jobs both inside and outside the college. The school also brings a big-name Park Distinguished Visitor to campus each year—this year it was Jesse Eisenberg, fresh off his Academy Award nomination for A Real Pain. But Ithaca has fewer key course offerings than other top 50 options in areas like directing, editing and AI. Disney CEO Bob Iger stands out as the most famous alum but the roster of successful Hollywood graduates stretches longer than Mickey’s tail: producers Rand Geiger (Stranger Things), Bill D’Elia (How to Get Away with Murder) and Deborah Snyder (Justice League), actors David Boreanaz (Angel) and Gavin MacLeod (Love Boat) and executives Callie Tresser and Greg Dunbar.
35. Arizona State University
The Sidney Poitier New American Film School
Tempe, AZ
It seems appropriate that a school named after Poitier, the celebrated actor and activist, would stand up for diversity, with its mission of “championing underserved voices” and teaching students to “use their voice and vision to tell important stories and break down institutional and societal barriers.” That student body is almost half minority and fully a quarter Latino. This year it launched the Immersive Storytelling Project in partnership with Morehouse, Spelman, Clark Atlanta University and Drexel. The large overall program—about 1,000 undergraduate majors—has facilities in three locations: the main campus in Tempe, a production hub a few miles away in Mesa and an L.A. center, for students spending a semester in the city that also houses its Master’s program in narrative and emerging media.
34. Pratt Institute
Film/Video Department
Brooklyn, NY
Students looking for inspiration or just a quick mental break can avail themselves of something few other schools have: a world-class sculpture garden on campus, which underscores Pratt’s position as an art-and-design school with an undergraduate film program. But that doesn’t slight the film students, who have access to two soundstages, a 4K theater and a faculty that includes many working filmmakers. Within their first year, students will have directed three films and as many as 20 by graduation, contributing to its strong 92% retention rate. The graduation rate of 62%, however, falls short. All this takes place on a college campus out of central casting that’s only 26 minutes from Manhattan by subway.
33. Ringling College of Art and Design
Sarasota, FL
Ringling espouses a collaborative community ethos for its film program based on its small size (100 total, with class sizes of about 12), its undergraduate-only focus, its close student-faculty interaction and the fact that by graduation most students will have assumed almost every role imaginable on a set while working on as many as 60—yes, 60—student films. In addition, Ringling offers degrees in Computer Animation, Motion Design, Virtual Reality and Game Art, all of which are well regarded in their own right. This gives film students exposure and access to cutting-edge digital tools. The facilities also attract heavyweights like Werner Herzog and Kevin Smith to the Sarasota campus. But unlike other top 50 programs, it doesn’t offer a study in L.A. option.
32. Rochester Institute of Technology
School of Film and Animation
Rochester, NY
RIT sees itself as well positioned to help students in this era of rapid change thanks to digital tools and AI. The school says it is at the forefront of trends that put these powerful tools in the hands of individuals, touting its “maker” mentality long before the maker movement entered the mainstream. This legacy goes back to its status as one of the first places to offer degrees in film and color science and software. The fusion of tech and creativity is evident in the 52,000-square-foot MAGIC (Media, Arts, Games, Interaction, and Creativity) complex and in successful alumni like AMPAS senior director of science and tech, Alex Forsythe, Frame.io founder John Traver and cinematographer Michael Slovis. The school boasts a 98% retention rate, but its graduation rate (66%) needs improvement.
31. Drexel University
Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design
Philadelphia, PA
The Philadelphia-based university — its campus is literally kitty-corner to No. 47, UPenn, making the pair the closest schools on the list — prides itself on putting cameras in students’ hands from Day 1. That practical ethos extends to its co-op program, in which students participate in a minimum of two semesters of hands-on experience in a position that aligns with their professional aspirations. A small sampling of corporate participants includes Amazon MGM, Apple Studios, Lionsgate, NFL Films and Focus Features. Students can also get practical experience working with Dragon Productions, the student-staffed video-production organization that works with clients both within and outside the university. Ambitious types can also spend a semester in the Drexel in Los Angeles program. The school takes most applicants — 80% at last report — and has a so-so retention rate of 81%.
30. California State University, Northridge
Department of Cinema and Television Arts
Northridge, CA
The Department of Cinema and Television Arts bills itself as the people’s film school, offering a high-quality, industry-connected education at a state-school price. Leveraging the university’s diversity—a majority of its students identify as Latino—the program plugs its “democratizing access to the entertainment industry.” The most entertainment-focused institution in the Cal State system, Northridge is home to the California State University Entertainment Alliance, which connects students from across all 22 campuses to internships, career education and professional development, and it has the Northridge-specific Entertainment Industry Institute, which brings producers, directors, writers, executives and other top-tier professionals directly to campus. Alum Dave Caplan, the co-showrunner on The Conners, is part of an initiative that places half a dozen underrepresented screenwriting students in internships with showrunners.
29. School of Visual Arts
New York, NY
SVA is focused on developing working filmmakers, with a commitment that extends beyond graduation and includes financial and institutional support to submit student films to festivals. Top students have an automatic in at the New York Film Festival due to the school’s partnership with that annual event. The recently redesigned BFA program emphasizes flexibility and student choice, allowing participants to take any course to help them develop a wide range of marketable skills. It also designed two new writing/directing spaces this year. Still, the for-profit school needs to improve its graduation rate, which stands at just 68%. Prominent alumni include composer Michael Giacchino and directors Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game), Gillian Robespierre (Obvious Child) and Paul Fox (Schitt’s Creek).
28. Hofstra University
The Lawrence Herbert School of Communication
Hempstead, NY
There’s no word if campus coffee shops serve cannoli in honor of Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola, the school’s most famous alumnus, but it would certainly make sense if they did. Hofstra also claims Anonymous Content CEO Dawn Olmstead and Marvel producer Avi Arad as graduates. Students get access to soundstages, professional-grade cameras and editing suites as even first-years are expected to start making films. The school’s semester in L.A. and its proximity to Manhattan bring the industry closer to the program, which is completely focused on undergraduate education. There are film-oriented study-abroad opportunities in Rome and Cuba, too. This year Hofstra added a virtual production course and enhanced its interdisciplinary courses on film and civil rights, film and gender studies, film and music and film and dance.
27. Southern Methodist University
Meadows School of the Arts
Dallas, TX
SMU loves to highlight its Summer Film Production program as a differentiator. Every two years, it produces a full-length feature completely written, directed, produced and crewed by students. Upperclassmen lead the way, while underclassmen serve as crew members. The 14-year-old initiative is just completing its seventh feature, with four of the six earlier films available on streaming platforms. The undergraduate-only program has about 25 majors, which allows for a lot of one-on-one mentoring. SMU recently added three faculty members to support its new screenwriting track. It has also started integrating AI expertise into its courses to help students grapple with this emerging tech, and it has partnered with local South Side Studios to give students access to its LED virtual production space.
26. University of Colorado at Boulder
Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts
Boulder, CO
The Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts jokes that it’s “helping keep the dream of celluloid alive” with production classes that shoot on Super 8, 16mm and 35mm analog film. That throwback love is, in part, the continuing influence of Stan Brakhage, who encouraged experimental filmmaking during his two decades on the faculty. New hires Kalpana Subramanian and Andy Uhrich were brought in to build on that legacy, with Uhrich tasked with reviving its film-preservation and archiving program. The department also uses Boulder as a selling point, specifically its outdoor lifestyle and its arts, including the Boulder International Film Festival. The program is looking forward to the arrival of the Sundance Film Festival in 2027: It has already added a filmfest class and is planning to set up internships and other festival-related opportunities for UC students.
25. Stony Brook University
The Lichtenstein Center
Stony Brook and New York, NY
The public university describes its MA program, housed at a satellite facility in midtown Manhattan, as East Coast film education’s “hidden gem.” (The school also has a BFA program on its main Long Island campus.) MFA students can choose from directing, TV writing, screenwriting and a new producing track and learn from experienced industry figures like Killer Films co-founder and Oscar-nominated producer Christine Vachon and writer Alan Kingsberg, who oversees the TV-writing program. In 2024 the school established a TV Pilot Incubator to help graduates launch their careers. It also has a producing course modeled on the Sundance Producers Lab and a micro-budget workshop for student features. The 100% retention rate and 99% completion rate for graduate students suggest high satisfaction for those in the MFA program.
24. New York Film Academy
New York, NY
Despite the New York name, NYFA is truly a global film school, with campuses in L.A., Miami, Italy, Australia and NYC. Founded just over 30 years ago by producer Jerry Sherlock as an alternative to university-based film schools, the for-profit NYFA emphasizes practical education and learning from working professionals. The goal is for students to graduate with a professional resume and portfolio and to find working in the industry comparable to what they did in school. Still, its middling retention and graduation rates (78% and 62%, respectively) suggest NYFA needs to improve student satisfaction. There’s a heavy emphasis on the practical: more student films than at most schools, pitchfests to hone skills and showcases in front of industry professionals. This year it added an online BA in Filmmaking and an online Master’s in Entrepreneurial Producing and Innovation and Screenwriting for Alternative Media.
23. ArtCenter College of Design
Pasadena, CA
The small program—only 120 undergrad and grad students combined at the 2,200-student art school—has an intimate feel and an excellent 4:1 student-faculty ratio while also offering artistic collaboration with the school’s other disciplines. The film program just added an overview course on AI in film and a retro-cool Shoot Film course funded by a donation from camera company Arriflex with student discounts from Kodak. This is a practically oriented education: approximately 80% hands-on learning and 20% film history and theory. Alum Zack Snyder, who is on the Board of Trustees, helped fund a renovation to the on-campus Ahmanson Auditorium, and fellow Pasadena resident Terry Crews allows students access to his nearby virtual production facility.
22. Biola University
Snyder School of Cinema & Media Arts
La Mirada, CA
Funded by a donation from In-N-Out Burger owner and president Lynsi Snyder-Ellingson, the largest in the school’s history, the La Mirada institution 25 miles from Hollywood upgraded the program and hired AMC Networks vet Tom Halleen as the founding dean of the undergrad-only Snyder School of Cinema & Media Arts. Biola says the term film school “refers to past technology,” whereas theirs is a forward-looking “four-screen” (film, TV, computer, mobile) program. In line with that, the school just launched an AI and digital-media course and added an AI Lab. A 55,000-square-foot production facility is on track to open in mid-2026. The nondenominational Christian school — Biola is an acronym for its original name, Bible Institute of Los Angeles — prides itself on educating students in craft and what it calls character: “We want them to be great at what they do, but we also want them to be great at who they are.” It has an excellent retention rate of 91%, good for a less selective school that admits six in 10 applicants.
21. DePaul University
School of Cinematic Arts
Chicago, IL
The private Catholic institution makes the most of the Windy City’s rich production history, with its soundstages at Cinespace, where students rub shoulders with the team from The Bear and productions from Dick Wolf, Amazon and Netflix. This year it launched DePaul Selects, a student short-film showcase in Los Angeles that drew the largest gathering of alumni outside Chicago in the program’s two-decade history. In its home city, it hosted the Midwest’s first AI in Film Education conference and started an Alumni Incubator Fund to provide $100K in cash and in-kind production support for an alumni-led project. The school added a three-year full-ride scholarship for an MFA directing student to go along with ones named for Bob Odenkirk, Ava Duvernay and other industry leaders. Its finances appear to have bounced back from a $56 million deficit in 2023-24 that led to a round of belt tightening, but DePaul still suffers from a middling 18:1 student-faculty ratio.
20. Johns Hopkins University
Krieger School of Arts & Sciences
Baltimore, MD
The Baltimore school, long associated with its world-class medical school, delivers what it describes as a “richly resourced…boutique program” that combines small classes, close student-faculty interaction and a strong liberal-arts foundation. The classroom time is paired with crew work on actual docs, corporate videos and commercial shoots. That kind of practical experience, JHU believes, “raises the stakes and offers a true sense of the world after school,” giving students actual responsibilities and real budgets. The undergraduate and graduate programs are housed at the JHU-MICA Film Centre in the arts district. They share space with the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund for media-making and are across the street from the Parkway Theatre, which offers screening facilities for student work. There’s also a student-run production company and a yearly mock television writers-room program that simulates the real thing. Students interested in going abroad often choose Prague, where the film program has a relationship with the Czech film school FAMU. Tuition runs a pricey $67K a year, but JHU is committed to meeting 100% of the financial needs of its students. It also claims a perfect retention rate and a stellar 90% graduation rate.
19. Syracuse University
S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications/College of Visual and Performing Arts
Syracuse, NY
Syracuse offers both BFA and MFA degrees in film through its College of Visual and Performing Arts and BS and MA degrees in television, radio and film through its S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. The school leans into the practical, emphasizing adaptability to a changing industry. Examples of that include new courses on AI and production design. It also started Newhouse Startup Garage—a nod to companies like Apple and Hewlett-Packard that started in garages—to connect local startups with Newhouse enrollees. Students have a chance to work with central New York–based American High Studios, and those looking to study in L.A. will find everything in the Dick Clark Los Angeles Program centralized in one building. (Yes, the perennial New Year’s Eve host was an alum, as are Aaron Sorkin and Vera Farmiga.)
18. Columbia College Chicago
School of Film and Television
Chicago, IL
The small (1,036 students), undergraduate-focused (only 37 grad students) school revamped its film and television core curriculum this year to make it more flexible and easier for students to move from film to TV and vice versa. Among the required courses: production sound, writing for the screen, history and theory, foundational production and editing. The school set up a virtual production wall in 2024 and added classes incorporating the wall and the use of AI in filmmaking. There’s also a semester in L.A. program housed at the historic Las Palmas Studios that includes active internship placement. The retention rate has risen from 65% to 77%, but the graduation rate is an anemic 44%. Still, the school says that of those who graduated in 2023, 96% were “employed or pursuing their creative practice.”
17. Florida State University
College of Motion Picture Arts
Tallahassee, FL
On the plus side, the school that taught Barry Jenkins and many of his frequent collaborators has affordable tuition (just $7K in-state and a bargain $25K out-of-state), high student satisfaction as measured by its 100% retention rate and a new 42K-square-foot facility to expand the university’s Torchlight Studios. The space includes four theaters for school and community use, a soundstage, a virtual production stage and post-production facilities. A new MFA offering allows students to pitch for the chance at a fully funded optional third year to make a feature film financed by FSU and shopped at film markets. On the minus side, it reported fewer internship opportunities and student-film showcases and less rigorous coursework requirements than other Top 50 programs.
16. Northwestern University
Radio/TV/Film Department
Evanston, IL
With 250 students, the Department of Radio/Television/Film (housed in the School of Communication) is just part of the super-selective (a 7% acceptance rate) Ivy-caliber university. Northwestern doesn’t offer a dedicated film degree—everyone gets a BA or BS in Communication Studies—and students interested in acting should head to its renowned theater program. All that said, the school prides itself on providing students with a well-rounded liberal-arts education in film and media. That doesn’t mean the program ignores the practical. It just introduced a podcast lab and a new Management of Creative Industries certification in partnership with its acclaimed Kellogg School of Management. It also sends top graduate and undergraduate students to Sundance each year. Curious high school students should consider signing up for the century-old National High School Institute (aka “Cherubs”), which brings in teens for an immersive summer filmmaking program and which the school says has “consistently been our best student recruitment tool.”
15. University of Miami
Department of Cinematic Arts
Coral Gables, FL
Few schools offer as many distractions as Miami, which is just 20 minutes from the glitz and glam of South Beach, not to mention the city’s vibrant and diverse cultural experiences. If you can pull yourself away, you’ll find a program that’s updated its digital editing and motion-picture labs with the latest equipment and a theater with a new 80-inch screen that can show CinemaScope films. It’s added a transmedia module and partnered with both the medical school and the school’s Frost Institute for Data Science & Computing to create VR content. In more traditional areas, there’s a TV-writing track and a documentary-film MFA. With an admission rate under 20% for undergraduates, the program is competitive, but the 90% retention rate indicates that students are happy.
14. Boston University
College of Communication, Department of Film & Television
Boston, MA
BU has made significant investments to enhance its program. It just opened a $3.5 million, 9,400-square-foot producing facility for directing and cinematography students. An additional 2,800 square feet of studio space is scheduled to open later this school year. To help students finish their films, the school has budgeted $100K in grants. BU will launch a cross-disciplinary BA and MA in Branded Content in collaboration with the Departments of Advertising and Public Relations in Fall 2026. Its L.A. program is well-established—and if La La Land doesn’t cut it, opportunities exist to study in London and Sydney. The school admits about one in four applicants and tuition runs to $67K.
13. Savannah College of Art and Design
School of Film and Acting
Savannah, GA
Among the factors contributing to SCAD’s high score are a wide breadth of class offerings, a dedicated effort to bring in experienced professionals as guest speakers and strong student retention. Add to that top facilities at the main Savannah campus, featuring an expansive Hollywood-style backlot. Combined with the satellite campus in Atlanta, it is the largest university film-studio complex in the country. It also has SCAD Casting, the only campus-based full-time in-house casting office. All that gives students an academic experience that closely mimics a real professional environment. The school claims upwards of 5,000 alumni working in the state’s growing entertainment sector. SCAD leadership includes Dean of the School of Film and Acting Andra Reeve-Rabb, who ran East Coast casting for CBS from 1997 to 2007, and veteran actor D.W. Moffett, who chairs the Department of Film and Television and exemplifies the working professionals on the faculty.
12. California Institute of the Arts
CalArts School of Film/Video
Santa Clarita, CA
The school, located in the Santa Clarita neighborhood of Valencia, is getting a fashion boost of sorts this year: Chanel bestowed a major grant to establish the Chanel Center for Artists and Technology, which will put students at the cutting edge of that intersection. The center is in line with the CalArts ethos that artistic vision and practical skills are “holistic.” The film/video division is headed by experimental filmmaker Ranu Mukherjee. But the school, which counts Walt Disney as a founder, is best known for its animation program. A who’s-who of Hollywood animation heavyweights got their education here: Pete Docter, Genndy Tartakovsky, Lauren Faust, Brad Bird, Tim Burton, Carrie Hobson and Chris Sanders. Still, the film program can point to its own luminaries, like James Mangold, Kirby Dick and Sofia Coppola (who dropped out before finishing).
11. University of Arizona
School of Theatre, Film & Television
Tuscon, AZ
The School of Theatre, Film & Television (TFTV) emphasizes community and collaboration not just for its students but among the alumni as well. The school recently started FTV LA in cooperation with Indie Spirit Awards producer Film Independent to foster alumni connections via screenings and event programming. The Fall 2025 speaker series features alumni, including writers Laura Snow (“Will Trent”) and Elias Benavidez (“Resident Alien”), CAA agent Matt Martin and actor Vinessa Vidotto (“FBI: International”). To help students establish themselves as working professionals, UA sends 10 a year to Sundance to make contacts. Current students also get to showcase their work on campus through events like the annual I Dream in Widescreen senior-thesis festival. TFTV added two faculty members to expand class offerings in scripted television and feature producing, including former Disney, HBO Max and Nickelodeon development executive Nikki Reed. The graduation rate, at 49%, is a little shaky, but tuition is a moderate (relatively speaking) $15K for in-state and $44K for out-of-state, with 98% of its students receiving financial aid. UA is also a federally recognized Hispanic-Serving Institution, meaning at least 25% of undergrads identify that way.
10. Emerson College
School of Film, Television, and Media Arts
Boston, MA
To riff on a movie from the writing/directing Daniels — Daniel Kwan ’10 and Daniel Scheinert ’09 — “Everything Everywhere All at Once” changed for the venerable Boston institution this year. The Department of Visual and Media Arts was elevated to a school within the college, serving about one third of the total student body. A search is on for both a Boston-based dean to oversee the whole structure and a dean to supervise the L.A. campus. Along with this restructuring, the national organization that classifies colleges moved Emerson from the general category to the Special Focus: College of Arts, Music, and Design category. It’s a change the school says “more clearly aligns with our institution’s academic focus.” A presidential task force also completed a risk-assessment rubric for new AI tools and planned retreats and workshops for faculty, staff and students for this school year. In addition to the opportunity to study at the L.A. satellite campus, there’s a three-year international BFA operated jointly with the Paris College of Art that includes classes in France and the Netherlands. TV- and film-writing MFA students can choose to do a full-time residency in Boston or mix online classes with short-term residencies. And Emerson is still a place where it pays to be the class clown: It offers the first-of-its-kind BFA in Comedic Arts.
9. University of North Carolina
SCHOOL OF THE ARTS
Winston-Salem, NC
As a stand-alone arts conservancy within a state university system, UNCSA is unique. Its film program is now three decades old and continues to grow and evolve: It recently started a three-year concentration called the Story Art Studio for cross-disciplinary work in VFX, animation, puppetry and immersive technology. The school also introduced an MFA in Media Archiving and Curatorial Practice, which takes advantage of its Moving Image Archives, the fifth-largest of its kind in the U.S., and expanded its nonfiction storytelling course options. For NC residents, UNCSA is a bargain at just $6.5K a year, especially strong considering its low student-faculty ratio (8:1) and high retention (93%), but the graduation rate (82%) is just OK. Craig Zobel, a 1999 graduate who directed three episodes of the Emmy-winning miniseries “The Penguin,” says, “UNCSA absolutely shaped my path in the sense that I met so many amazing people here that ended up being the backbone of all the relationships I’ve had my whole career. There’s not an actual secret handshake, but it feels like there is.”
8. The University of Texas at Austin
Department of Radio-Television-Film
Austin, TX
Alright, alright, alright: Matthew McConaughey’s Script to Screen film-production class, taught by the actor alongside professor Scott Rice, just celebrated its 10th year. (A spin-off focused on commercials started three years ago.) The Oscar winner and UT alum calls it “the class I wish I would have had when I was in film school.” UT Austin is among a select group participating in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. Also celebrating an anniversary was its semester in L.A. program, which turned 20 and offers 150 students the chance to take classes and do an internship in the city. UT reports that a robust 40% of participants move back to L.A. with industry jobs after graduation. In Austin, pupils take advantage of the world-class Harry Ransom archives, which house everything from Robert De Niro’s Godfather costumes and props to Lorne Michaels’ SNL papers to original Mad Men scripts. A partnership with the UT Athletic Department provides hands-on training in sports production. Opportunities around the city include work with the ATX Television Festival, the Austin Film Festival and SXSW. With almost 1,000 majors, the program is very large; while the retention rate is first-class at 97%, the 83% graduation rate could be stronger.
7. Columbia University
School of the Arts
New York, NY
Columbia is the only Ivy League school with a comparably elite graduate-only film program. It bills itself as “the story school” and says its classes are all centered on storytelling in ways that allow alumni to flourish as animators and documentarians even though they don’t focus on those disciplines. One strength of the program is its first-year core sequence, in which all students take the same classes and everyone gets a chance to write, direct and produce. The school says it builds collaboration and camaraderie that carries over into the professional world. New this year is a minor in Film and Media Studies. The 3:1 student-faculty ratio suggests lots of potential for interaction and mentoring, and it boasts outstanding 94% retention and graduation rates.
6 University of California, Los Angeles
School of Theater, Film and Television
Los Angeles, CA
Reflecting its status as one of the best schools in the UC system, its L.A. location, its historically good film program and its affordable tuition ($19K in-state), the two-year undergraduate program is fiercely competitive: A paltry 1% of undergrad applicants make the cut. Once admitted to the School of Theater, Film and Television, 93% return for a second year and 89% graduate, among the best numbers around for a state school, which usually fares worse in this category than a private one. TFT touts its relatively small size (within a huge university), low student-faculty ratio (3:1) and access to internships and other opportunities in Hollywood. But it is especially proud of its accomplished faculty of working professionals who have written screenplays for companies like Amazon, HBO and Sony and had films premiere at such festivals as Sundance and Toronto. Just a small sampling of alumni in Hollywood includes Francis Ford Coppola, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Channing Dungey, Alexander Payne and Catherine Hardwicke.
5. Loyola Marymount University
School of Film and Television
Los Angeles, CA
Since Dean Joanne Moore took over in 2022, LMU has launched a Distinguished Artist in Residence program, increased the number of guest speakers and added resources to keep up with changing technology. In 2025 it hosted the first Innovators Film Festival to celebrate forward-looking filmmaking that ethically integrates AI and other advancements. LMU also introduced a course called “Producing and Screenwriting With AI” to chart how the technology is used from development through distribution, and a joint class with its law school called “The Business of Screenwriting — Law and AI.” Students interested in sports can seek internships and other opportunities with the NFL’s Rams through the school’s partnership with the team. Plus, the film program is the education partner for the Women in Entertainment Mentorship Program with Big Brothers Big Sisters, which offers full-ride LMU scholarships to young women from underserved areas in Los Angeles. The 93% retention rate shows that students are happy — who wouldn’t be with that bluff-top view overlooking the Pacific? — but the 67% graduation rate needs a boost.
4. Chapman University
Dodge College of Film and Media Arts
Orange, CA
Chapman has kept pace with change by working on a virtual production curriculum and integrating AI instruction schoolwide. To reflect industry shifts, its Broadcast Journalism and Documentary program has been reconfigured as Documentary, Sports Media and Journalism; its Film and Media Studies program as Film, Entertainment and Media Studies; and its VR/AR minor as Entertainment Technology. Chapman is also adding a Sound Design MFA next fall. Along with those developments, the university has broken ground on a $5 million Innovation Hub, which includes its second LED wall, and is expanding its three-year-old undergraduate mentorship, which pairs students with industry mentors, to graduate students. Taking advantage of its location, about an hour from Hollywood, Chapman has a robust internship program and a career center that hosts workshops led by industry figures on such practical topics as how to write coverage and pitch a project. In recent years, it has also strived to make its education more affordable, reducing tuition for graduate students by about $50K, adding more undergraduate financial aid and doubling its student-film support.
3. AFI Conservatory
Los Angeles, CA
Since its founding in 1969, when its inaugural class included Terrence Malick, David Lynch, Paul Schrader and Caleb Deschanel, AFI has set the standard for a conservatory approach to filmmaking with a “learn by doing” mantra. It says that 50% of the graduate-only curriculum centers on production taught by working professionals. (“We are not just a school — we’re one of the most prolific content creators in Hollywood,” it says about its active working faculty.) AFI has begun to lean into AI in innovative ways. It hosted an inaugural “Framing the Future” workshop to get students and faculty to explore the ethical responsibilities, artistic integrity and creative potential of this new technology. A $200K grant from Amazon has funded the new Innovative Storytellers Initiative, which empowers second-year students to test AI tools in their creative work and then incorporates the most successful methods into the curriculum. AFI is also tapping its illustrious network with the establishment of an alumni center. The program takes about one in six applicants, 95% of whom go on to graduate.
2. University of Southern California
School of Cinematic Arts
Los Angeles, CA
USC launched the same year as the Oscars, and its alumni network is so huge that it takes 14 categories (producers, agents, directors, etc.) jam-packed with A-list names to include them all. That means the school can do things like conjure up a $25 million donation from the Blavatnik Family Foundation to establish a cutting-edge 15K-square-foot virtual production center. That goes along with a new endowed chair in cinematography as well as a $1 million endowed fund from the Schuman Family Foundation to back a student showcase program and another gifted by TV creator Josh Schwartz to support an industry mentorship initiative for aspiring writers. USC has established itself as one of the most selective schools in the country with an admittance rate of just 12% — but once they’re in, students are very satisfied, as it claims a stellar 100% retention rate.
1. New York University
Tisch School of the Arts
New York, NY
Tisch sells its location (film in all five boroughs!) and flexibility — with clear paths for students who know what they want to study from Day 1 and room for those who aren’t sure yet to explore widely — as key attributes. The school opened a state-of-the-art 45K-square-foot virtual production center named for alumnus Martin Scorsese but funded by a gift from fellow directing legend George Lucas and his wife, Mellody Hobson, in 2024. This year it added a Master’s of Professional Studies (which has a strong applied-studies component) in virtual production and a 15-month Master’s in Media Producing. It also offered a second edition of its New Mexico-based summer workshop for students of all backgrounds interested in telling Indigenous stories. The admittance rate is just 13% and tuition runs to $69K for undergrads, but NYU President Linda G. Mills recently promised that any student from a family earning less than $100K a year would pay zero tuition. Notable alumni besides Scorsese include Spike Lee, Chloé Zhao and Dee Rees.
Honorable Mentions
Community College of Aurora
Department of Cinematic Arts
Aurora and Denver, CO
The only community college on the list boasts that it offers the “highest-value film-school experience of any institution in the world” when balancing facilities, faculty and hands-on student experience against cost.
Cherokee Film Institute
Owasso, OK
The year-old CFI is a workforce development and training center rather than a degree-granting school, established to increase Native American representation in the industry as both crew members and creatives. It bills itself as the “first and only tribally operated” program of its kind focused specifically on the entertainment industry.
Background & Methodology
How Screen Engine/ASI determined this year’s rankings
A comprehensive review and analysis of top film schools in the United States was conducted for TheWrap by Screen Engine/ASI in the summer of 2025. Online surveys were distributed to more than 60 colleges and universities in early July, and completed questionnaires were collected over the following six weeks. Answers were tabulated and analyzed using a point system that weighed the following key data:
- Selectivity of acceptance, including rigors of application and acceptance rate
- Retention: percentage of first-year students returning in the second year
- Graduation rate: four-year graduation rate for a Bachelor’s degree and general graduation rate for a Master’s degree
- Student-faculty ratio
- Faculty qualifications: PhD, Master’s or relevant experience
- Breadth of film/TV/media classes offered, including classes that address cutting-edge technology (i.e., artificial intelligence and digital arts), and the number of core classes within the discipline required to complete the degree
- Equipment available to students
- Number of films students are required to make over the course of their studies
- Sources of funding for student films
- Other hands-on experiences offered: internships, mentoring, networking, job placement
- Opportunities for students to showcase their work
Additionally, extra points were awarded based upon:
- Career centers and career days to help students find employment post-graduation
- The school’s proximity to the major Los Angeles and New York entertainment hubs, including satellite locations
- Credentialed guest speakers
- Notable alumni and their accomplishments
- Relevant distinctions and awards won by the school, its students or its faculty
- The school’s answer to how it has evolved over the past five years to meet the shifts in the entertainment industry
- The school’s answer to what distinguishes it as special, different or unique (its “superpower”)
Film schools offering both undergraduate and graduate programs had an advantage over those that offered just one or the other, given that points for certain questions could be earned separately for each program and contributed to the overall tally. In some instances where questions were left blank on the survey, if reliable information was readily available from other sources such as the school’s website or published data, those answers were added by Screen Engine/ASI to the data file. However, in many cases, unanswered questions resulted in lower overall scores that affected the school’s ultimate ranking.
This story first ran in the College Issue of TheWrap magazine.
