Film, Video & Photographic Arts is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #42 most popular bachelor's degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 3 schools in Virginia to determine which ones were the best for film, video & photographic arts students pursuing a bachelor's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 198 bachelor's degrees in film, video & photographic arts to qualified students.
Take the first step toward a career of visual expression and doing what you love with this online associate degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
Learn to create a striking portfolio and hone the skills you need to succeed in the world of professional photography with this online digital photography degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
Choosing a Great Film, Video & Photographic Arts School for Your Bachelor's Degree
Your choice of film, video & photographic arts for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality film program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
Overall Quality Is a Must
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Average Early-Career Salaries
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their bachelor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your bachelor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to film, video & photographic arts students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - The number of film, video & photographic arts students who choose to seek a bachelor's degree at the school.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How much debt film, video & photographic arts students go into to obtain their bachelor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized film, video & photographic arts related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for film, video & photographic arts students working on their bachelor's degree.
More Ways to Rank Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Virginia list, to help you choose the best school for you.
To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
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Learn to create a striking portfolio and hone the skills you need to succeed in the world of professional photography with this online digital photography degree from Southern New Hampshire University.
Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in film, video & photographic arts has to check out Virginia Commonwealth University. Located in the midsize city of Richmond, VCU is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Soon after graduating, film bachelor's recipients usually make around $23,109 in their early careers.
George Mason University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in film, video & photographic arts. GMU is a very large public university located in the large suburb of Fairfax.
Soon after graduating, film bachelor's recipients usually earn an average of $23,989 at the beginning of their careers.
It is hard to beat Liberty University if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in film, video & photographic arts. Located in the city of Lynchburg, Liberty University is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the film program state that they receive average early career income of $20,512.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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.
Your choice of film, video & photographic arts for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality film program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
