Which Ohio film and photography program has the lowest debt?

Oberlin College reports the lowest median federal debt, $25,500, with first-year pay of $23,519.

How much do film and photography graduates earn in Ohio?

The median across 5 Ohio film and photography bachelor's programs is $23,519 in the first year after graduating and $39,299 five years after.

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

5 Ohio programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 5 of them also report federal debt.

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

5 programs report first-year pay
5 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 Ohio film and photography bachelor's program pays its graduates $23,519 in their first year, $1,737 less than the national median. Columbus College of Art & Design reports the highest first-year pay ($28,994), and Oberlin College the lowest median debt ($25,500).

Median first-year pay$23,519National $25,256

Median pay after 5 years$39,299National $42,042

Median federal debt$26,375National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings109%National 98%

All 5 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	Columbus College of Art & DesignColumbus · private nonprofit	$28,994	$40,134	$27,000	93%
2	Wright StateDayton · public	$24,617	Not reported	$26,750	109%
3	Oberlin CollegeOberlin · private nonprofit	$23,519	Not reported	$25,500	108%
4	Cleveland StateCleveland · public	$22,263	$38,453	$26,774	120%
5	Bowling Green StateBowling Green · public	$19,803	$43,486	$26,000	131%

One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 5 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

$69,350

Median pay in Ohio. 1,610 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $44,950Top 10%: $122,450

Photographers

$38,470

Median pay in Ohio. 1,540 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $23,670Top 10%: $80,990

Film and Video Editors

$56,410

Median pay in Ohio. 340 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $28,280Top 10%: $91,110

Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film

$64,860

Median pay in Ohio. 520 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $43,080Top 10%: $104,830

Common questions

Columbus College of Art & Design in Columbus reports the highest median first-year pay, $28,994. Its median federal debt is $27,000.

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 Ohio 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