Which New York film and photography program has the lowest debt?

Hunter College reports the lowest median federal debt, $7,134, with first-year pay of $24,869.

How much do film and photography graduates earn in New York?

The median across 18 New York film and photography bachelor's programs is $23,826 in the first year after graduating and $47,856 five years after.

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

18 New York programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 16 of them also report federal debt.

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

18 programs report first-year pay
16 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 New York film and photography bachelor's program pays its graduates $23,826 in their first year, $1,431 less than the national median. Fordham University reports the highest first-year pay ($36,704), and Hunter College the lowest median debt ($7,134).

Median first-year pay$23,826National $25,256

Median pay after 5 years$47,856National $42,042

Median federal debt$25,798National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings104%National 98%

All 18 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	Fordham UniversityBronx · private nonprofit	$36,704	Not reported	$25,000	68%
2	RITRochester · private nonprofit	$28,858	$51,613	$27,000	94%
3	Vassar CollegePoughkeepsie · private nonprofit	$28,028	$64,947	$17,993	64%
4	City College of New YorkNew York · public	$26,918	$47,856	Not reported	Not reported
5	University at BuffaloBuffalo · public	$26,630	$50,882	$24,509	92%
6	Syracuse UniversitySyracuse · private nonprofit	$26,331	Not reported	$27,000	103%
7	Marymount Manhattan CollegeNew York · private nonprofit	$25,014	Not reported	$27,000	108%
8	Hunter CollegeNew York · public	$24,869	$48,104	$7,134	29%
9	NYUNew York · private nonprofit	$23,869	$56,749	$22,250	93%
10	Ithaca CollegeIthaca · private nonprofit	$23,782	$44,112	$25,000	105%
11	Binghamton UniversityVestal · public	$22,843	$53,340	Not reported	Not reported
12	SUNY OswegoOswego · public	$22,682	$44,107	$25,798	114%
13	The New SchoolNew York · private nonprofit	$21,523	$53,471	$25,829	120%
14	Pace UniversityNew York · private nonprofit	$20,775	$54,429	$25,238	121%
15	Brooklyn CollegeBrooklyn · public	$20,476	$35,878	$13,622	67%
16	School of Visual ArtsNew York · private for-profit	$20,312	$34,499	$27,000	133%
17	SUNY Purchase CollegePurchase · public	$18,128	$37,180	$26,949	149%
18	Pratt InstituteBrooklyn · private nonprofit	$16,710	$34,194	$27,000	162%

City College of New York and Binghamton University report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every New York film and photography program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 16 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Fordham University$36,704
RIT$28,858
Vassar College$28,028
City College of New York$26,918
University at Buffalo$26,630

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

$107,550

Median pay in New York. 27,990 people work in this job in New York. 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%: $61,960Top 10%: $222,580

Photographers

$60,050

Median pay in New York. 3,650 people work in this job in New York. 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%: $37,890Top 10%: $109,470

Film and Video Editors

$103,440

Median pay in New York. 3,710 people work in this job in New York. 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%: $55,990Top 10%: $172,280

Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film

$93,410

Median pay in New York. 2,930 people work in this job in New York. 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%: $56,710Top 10%: $133,410

Common questions

Fordham University in Bronx reports the highest median first-year pay, $36,704. Its median federal debt is $25,000.

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 New York 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