College Scorecard · field of study · all U.S. colleges

Is a Film/Video and Photographic Arts degree worth the debt?

The figures below lead with the Bachelor's, aggregated across 146 colleges (146 of 146 programs report earnings). Other credential levels are in the table further down.

Median pay · 1 yr after

$23,518

Graduates only, early career.$25,619 two years out.

Median federal debt

$24,000

Federal loans only — not private or Parent PLUS.

Debt vs a year's pay

0.99×

99% of a first year's earnings.

Typical debt is under a year's early-career pay.

The college you pick moves this a lot

The middle 50% of Bachelor's programs in Film/Video and Photographic Arts report early-career pay between $21,072 and $26,780 — a spread of $5,708 that depends on the program and who attends it, not the major alone.

25th pct $21,072 median $23,518 75th pct $26,780

By degree level

Each level is a separate decision — more schooling usually means more pay and more debt.

LevelPay · 1yrDebtDebt/pay

Certificate 8 colleges $18,868 $8,676 0.44×

Associate's 11 colleges $16,375 $19,057 0.89×

Bachelor's 146 colleges $23,518 $24,000 0.99×

Master's 22 colleges $29,896 $94,094 3.15×

Where a Bachelor's in this field reports the highest early-career pay

The 15 programs with the highest reported pay one year after completion. This reflects who enrolls and where they live as much as the program itself — it is not a causal quality ranking.

Brandeis University MA $44,352 —

Lafayette College PA $38,673 —

Dartmouth College NH $37,647 —

Emory University GA $36,708 —

University of Southern California CA $35,793 $19,500 debt

Florida State University FL $35,623 $20,538 debt

Chapman University CA $33,357 $18,500 debt

Purdue University-Main Campus IN $32,369 $17,369 debt

Brigham Young University UT $32,016 $11,894 debt

Seattle University WA $31,929 $23,800 debt

Academy of Art University CA $31,710 $33,812 debt

University of California-Berkeley CA $31,313 $15,000 debt

New York University NY $30,874 $20,500 debt

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor MI $29,824 $19,024 debt

Northern Arizona University AZ $29,563 $19,819 debt

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is a median across college programs in Film/Video and Photographic Arts, from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. It is not a prediction of what you would earn (your college, effort, and local job market vary enormously — see the spread above), not lifetime earnings (it is measured 1–2 years after completion, early career), not proof the major caused the outcome (who enters a field differs by field — selection, not causation), and not a "best majors" ranking: earnings are one dimension of worth, not the whole of it. Teaching and social work pay far less than the fields at the top of this list and matter enormously. Earnings cover federally-aided completers at programs large enough to report.

Also available: structured data (JSON-LD) · plain text · JSON. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard — Field of Study (2026-06-10 release). · explore this field on the official Scorecard