Which California film and photography program has the lowest debt?

UC Santa Barbara reports the lowest median federal debt, $15,000, with first-year pay of $28,608.

How much do film and photography graduates earn in California?

The median across 25 California film and photography bachelor's programs is $24,840 in the first year after graduating and $47,385 five years after.

How many film and photography bachelor's programs are in California?

25 California programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 25 of them also report federal debt.

Film and Photography (Bachelor's) Programs in California, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

25 programs report first-year pay
25 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Film/Video and Photographic Arts

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median California film and photography bachelor's program pays its graduates $24,840 in their first year, $416 less than the national median. Chapman University reports the highest first-year pay ($35,795), and UC Santa Barbara the lowest median debt ($15,000).

Median first-year pay$24,840National $25,256

Median pay after 5 years$47,385National $42,042

Median federal debt$21,687National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings93%National 98%

All 25 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Chapman UniversityOrange · private nonprofit	$35,795	$65,834	$19,123	53%
2	USCLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$34,187	$53,923	$21,687	63%
3	Woodbury UniversityBurbank · private nonprofit	$32,477	$51,579	$27,000	83%
4	Occidental CollegeLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$30,526	Not reported	$20,804	68%
5	UCLALos Angeles · public	$29,696	$66,565	$19,000	64%
6	UC BerkeleyBerkeley · public	$29,011	$38,182	$15,693	54%
7	UC Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara · public	$28,608	$52,687	$15,000	52%
8	California Institute of the ArtsValencia · private nonprofit	$28,247	Not reported	$27,000	96%
9	CSUNNorthridge · public	$27,290	$38,272	$18,266	67%
10	John Paul the Great Catholic UniversityEscondido · private nonprofit	$27,221	Not reported	$26,925	99%
11	Mount Saint Mary's UniversityLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$25,835	Not reported	$27,000	105%
12	California Baptist UniversityRiverside · private nonprofit	$25,031	Not reported	$26,988	108%
13	UC RiversideRiverside · public	$24,840	$47,385	$20,500	83%
14	Sacramento StateSacramento · public	$24,618	$53,310	$16,205	66%
15	Loyola Marymount UniversityLos Angeles · private nonprofit	$24,561	$45,035	$23,250	95%
16	UC Santa CruzSanta Cruz · public	$23,614	$45,511	$16,439	70%
17	Academy of Art UniversitySan Francisco · private for-profit	$23,354	$39,174	$36,500	156%
18	Art Center College of DesignPasadena · private nonprofit	$22,988	$33,995	$31,000	135%
19	Los Angeles Film SchoolHollywood · private for-profit	$22,596	Not reported	$42,250	187%
20	UC IrvineIrvine · public	$21,397	$44,541	$16,300	76%
21	California College of ASULos Angeles · private nonprofit · closed	$20,483	$37,746	$28,334	138%
22	UC DavisDavis · public	$19,258	$50,629	$18,000	93%
23	Cal Poly HumboldtArcata · public	$19,107	Not reported	$23,162	121%
24	San Francisco StateSan Francisco · public	$18,654	$48,379	$17,850	96%
25	New York Film AcademyBurbank · private for-profit	$16,415	Not reported	$31,000	189%

One of these schools has since closed.

Debt and first-year pay at every California film and photography program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the California medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 25 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to film and photography, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Producers and Directors

$129,790

Median pay in California. 34,110 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $63,570Top 10%: $306,850

Photographers

$47,840

Median pay in California. 7,980 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $36,470Top 10%: $125,490

Film and Video Editors

$88,490

Median pay in California. 8,110 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $42,020Top 10%: $169,810

Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film

$106,900

Median pay in California. 4,700 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 2,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $53,910Top 10%: $154,240

Common questions

Chapman University in Orange reports the highest median first-year pay, $35,795. Its median federal debt is $19,123.

Film and Photography (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked145 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of California rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the film and photography bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024