Online Film, video & photography programs
28 programs — 4 with federal cost data, the rest suppressed for small class sizes and listed after them, ordered by median debt against median earnings — lowest first.
Data last updated
Specific program
Schools file the same degree under different federal codes — Berklee’s music production sits under “Music, Other”, Academy of Art’s under “Recording Arts”. These groups gather every code a program is actually filed under.
Hide for-profit colleges(7 programs)What our data shows about for-profit collegesAcross the creative fields on this site, students at private for-profit institutions borrow 27% more than students at public ones ($29,332 against $23,033) and earn 15% less four years after completing ($38,361 against $45,110).The combined effect is severe. Median debt at a for-profit equals 70% of a graduate’s annual earnings, against 47% at a public institution. And 10% of for-profit programs leave graduates owing more than they earn in a year — against 1% of public ones. Ten times the rate.This is a pattern across 212 for-profit programs, not a handful of outliers, and it holds in every creative field we cover. It does not mean no for-profit program is worth taking: some appear high in our best-value rankings, and this filter hides those too. It means the odds are materially worse, and the burden of proof sits with the school.Figures are medians computed from the College Scorecard and IPEDS data behind every table on this site.
| Institution | Programcredential and delivery | at completion | 4 yrs after | Median federal loan debt at completion, divided by median earnings four years later. It answers a single question: how much of one year’s income do you owe on the day you finish?Below 50% is generally considered manageable. Above 100% means graduates owe more than they earn in a year, and repayment on a standard ten-year plan starts to consume a serious share of income.Debt covers federal loans only, so real ratios are often worse. Both figures are medians — half of graduates fall on the wrong side of each. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of ArizonaAZ · PublicRequest information → | Film/Cinema/Media StudiesBachelor’s degree · Fully online | $20,500 | $44,145 | 46% |
| Mount Saint Mary's UniversityCA · Private nonprofitRequest information → | Cinematography and Film/Video ProductionBachelor’s degree · Fully onlineWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:PhotographyThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | $26,188 | $47,091 | 56% |
| Western Michigan UniversityMI · PublicRequest information → | Film/Video and Photographic Arts, OtherBachelor’s degree · Fully online | $27,000 | $45,391 | 59% |
| The University of MontanaMT · PublicRequest information → | Cinematography and Film/Video ProductionBachelor’s degree · Fully online | $25,011 | $36,169 | 69% |
| American River CollegeCA · PublicRequest information → | Film/Cinema/Media StudiesUndergraduate certificate · Fully online | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| American River CollegeCA · PublicRequest information → | Film/Cinema/Media StudiesAssociate degree · Fully online | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| College of the DesertCA · PublicRequest information → | Cinematography and Film/Video ProductionUndergraduate certificate · Fully online | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| Corban UniversityOR · Private nonprofitRequest information → | Film/Cinema/Media StudiesBachelor’s degree · Fully online | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| Cosumnes River CollegeCA · PublicRequest information → | Cinematography and Film/Video ProductionAssociate degree · Fully onlineWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Film/Cinema/Media StudiesThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| Cuyahoga Community College DistrictOH · PublicRequest information → | Cinematography and Film/Video ProductionUndergraduate certificate · Fully online | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| Cuyahoga Community College DistrictOH · PublicRequest information → | Cinematography and Film/Video ProductionAssociate degree · Fully online | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| Fitchburg State UniversityMA · PublicRequest information → | Cinematography and Film/Video ProductionBachelor’s degree · Fully onlineWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:PhotographyThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| Foothill CollegeCA · PublicRequest information → | PhotographyUndergraduate certificate · Fully online | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| Foothill CollegeCA · PublicRequest information → | PhotographyAssociate degree · Fully online | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| Georgia Gwinnett CollegeGA · PublicRequest information → | Film/Video and Photographic Arts, OtherAssociate degree · Fully onlineWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Cinematography and Film/Video ProductionThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| Georgia Gwinnett CollegeGA · PublicRequest information → | Film/Video and Photographic Arts, OtherBachelor’s degree · Fully onlineWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Cinematography and Film/Video ProductionThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| Los Angeles City CollegeCA · PublicRequest information → | Cinematography and Film/Video ProductionUndergraduate certificate · Fully online | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| Los Angeles Valley CollegeCA · PublicRequest information → | Cinematography and Film/Video ProductionUndergraduate certificate · Fully onlineWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Film/Cinema/Media StudiesThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| Los Angeles Valley CollegeCA · PublicRequest information → | Cinematography and Film/Video ProductionAssociate degree · Fully onlineWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:Film/Cinema/Media StudiesThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| Maharishi International UniversityIA · Private nonprofitRequest information → | Cinematography and Film/Video ProductionBachelor’s degree · Fully online | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| Mesa Community CollegeAZ · PublicRequest information → | PhotographyUndergraduate certificate · Fully online | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| Mesa Community CollegeAZ · PublicRequest information → | PhotographyAssociate degree · Fully online | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| Mount Saint Mary's UniversityCA · Private nonprofitRequest information → | Cinematography and Film/Video ProductionMaster’s degree · Fully onlineWhat this figure actually coversThe federal government reports debt and earnings for a whole program family rather than one degree. At this institution that family also includes:PhotographyThe figures on this row describe all of them together. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| Napa Valley CollegeCA · PublicRequest information → | PhotographyAssociate degree · Fully online | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| National UniversityCA · Private nonprofitRequest information → | Cinematography and Film/Video ProductionBachelor’s degree · Fully online | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| Saint Augustine's UniversityNC · Private nonprofitRequest information → | Film/Cinema/Media StudiesBachelor’s degree · Fully online | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| Southeastern UniversityFL · Private nonprofitRequest information → | Cinematography and Film/Video ProductionBachelor’s degree · Fully online | Not reported | Not reported | — |
| Vermont College of Fine ArtsVT · Private nonprofitRequest information → | Cinematography and Film/Video ProductionMaster’s degree · Fully online | Not reported | Not reported | — |
Source: College Scorecard, Field of Study (retrieved September 2026)
How we are paid: StudyCreative earns revenue when readers ask to be connected with a school. No school pays to appear in these figures, to change them, or to be left out of them. Full disclosure.
One thing these figures cannot tell you
Earnings and debt are reported by the federal government at a four-digit program level, so a figure shown against “Film, video & photography” covers every related program at that institution rather than one named degree. That pooling also spans delivery: where a school runs the same credential both online and on campus, the federal figures combine both sets of students. We cannot separate them, and we do not estimate. Full methodology.