Film/Cinema/Media Studies Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Film/Cinema/Media Studies maps to BLS occupations averaging about $64,987, with roughly 1,596,050 workers nationwide in those roles. About 4,575 bachelor's completions in IPEDS 2023; median program completion runs near 61%.
Key Statistics
Film/Cinema/Media Studies: what the data shows
Common questions about film/cinema/media studies degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a film/cinema/media studies degree?
A Film/Cinema/Media Studies program is classified under NCES CIP 50.0601 in the Film/Video and Photographic Arts field family (50.06).
A program in the visual arts that focuses on the study of the history, development, theory, and criticism of the film/media arts, as well as the basic principles of filmmaking and film production
IPEDS counted 4,575 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
Types of film/cinema/media studies degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 50.06 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- Cinematography and Film/Video Production (CIP 50.0602)
- Documentary Production (CIP 50.0607)
How long does it take to get a film/cinema/media studies degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 50.0601 in our file:
- 221 Associate (4.1% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 4,575 Bachelor's (85.0% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 586 Master's (10.9% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
- 1 Doctorate (0.0% of IPEDS total)—varies by program
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What do you learn in film/cinema/media studies?
O*NET skill ratings for occupations mapped to this major emphasize Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Speaking, Writing, Critical Thinking, Service Orientation, and related competencies. See the Skills section for the full list in our extract.
What degree do you need?
For Teachers, Postsecondary (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%). Bachelor's awards account for a majority of IPEDS completions for CIP 50.0601, but occupation data show multiple pathways.
O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.
What jobs can you get with a film/cinema/media studies degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Film/Cinema/Media Studies to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Teachers, Postsecondary | 1,500,000 | — |
| Secondary School Teachers | 1,072,540 | $64,580 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a film/cinema/media studies degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Film/Video and Photographic Arts bachelor's program family: median debt $41,106, median earnings $43,765 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 1.62.
About 8.0% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $6,088 and median net price is $16,296.
We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Film/Cinema/Media Studies and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$6,088 Median In-State Public
$42,942 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Film/Cinema/Media Studies majors are, on average, $6,088 for in-state public colleges, and $42,942 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Film/Cinema/Media Studies programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
4,575 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Film/Cinema/Media Studies from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Film/Cinema/Media Studies.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 163,164 |
| 2 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 163,164 |
| 3 | Grand Canyon University | AZ | 73,371 |
| 4 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
| 5 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Film/Cinema/Media Studies programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barstow Community College | CA | $1,104 |
| 2 | Barstow Community College | CA | $1,104 |
| 3 | Lake Tahoe Community College | CA | $1,131 |
| 4 | San Diego City College | CA | $1,146 |
| 5 | San Diego City College | CA | $1,146 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Film/Cinema/Media Studies programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | College of San Mateo | CA | $536 |
| 2 | Wiregrass Georgia Technical College | GA | $614 |
| 3 | Henry Ford College | MI | $660 |
| 4 | Southern Regional Technical College | GA | $813 |
| 5 | Southern Regional Technical College | GA | $813 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Film/Cinema/Media Studies programs.
Graduation Rates
60.67% Median Graduation Rate (150% of normal time)
60.07% Average Graduation Rate
611 Institutions Reporting
48.08% - 72.71% Interquartile Range
Graduation/completion rates for Film/Cinema/Media Studies programs across institutions.
Where students complete this major (IPEDS)
Bachelor's-level completions (IPEDS Completions, award level 5) summed by institution state. State is taken from IPEDS Directory (HD2023) for each reporting institution.
Geographic concentration
The largest number of reported bachelor's completions for Film/Cinema/Media Studies is in CA (1,322 completions). That state represents about 28.9% of U.S. bachelor's completions reported for this CIP in the IPEDS file we use.
Among states, the highest concentration relative to all bachelor's degrees awarded in-state is NM (0.65% of that state's bachelor's completions).
Top states by count of bachelor's completions for this CIP (IPEDS).
| State | Bachelor's completions (this CIP) | % of U.S. total (this CIP) | % of state's all bachelor's |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA | 1,322 | 28.9% | 0.29% |
| NY | 393 | 8.6% | 0.14% |
| GA | 326 | 7.1% | 0.28% |
| FL | 236 | 5.2% | 0.10% |
| MI | 183 | 4.0% | 0.16% |
| UT | 179 | 3.9% | 0.17% |
| OH | 158 | 3.5% | 0.11% |
| WA | 158 | 3.5% | 0.23% |
| OR | 129 | 2.8% | 0.29% |
| WI | 123 | 2.7% | 0.16% |
| CO | 115 | 2.5% | 0.16% |
| MA | 113 | 2.5% | 0.09% |
| PA | 105 | 2.3% | 0.06% |
| NM | 103 | 2.2% | 0.65% |
| CT | 94 | 2.0% | 0.19% |
| AZ | 82 | 1.8% | 0.06% |
| NV | 81 | 1.8% | 0.39% |
| VT | 73 | 1.6% | 0.59% |
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 50.06 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- Cinematography and Film/Video Production CIP 50.0602
- Documentary Production CIP 50.0607
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 50.0601 in the survey year used in our extract (5,383 total across levels below).
- 221 Associate (4.1% of IPEDS total)
- 4,575 Bachelor's (85.0% of IPEDS total)
- 586 Master's (10.9% of IPEDS total)
- 1 Doctorate (0.0% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
Careers & Jobs
Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.
Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $64,987. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Film/Cinema/Media Studies graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Teachers, Postsecondary | $36,511 | 1,500,000 |
| Secondary School Teachers | $104,813 | 1,072,540 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Program outcomes (College Scorecard)
National medians across bachelor's programs in the Film/Video and Photographic Arts CIP family (54 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Film/Cinema/Media Studies graduate.
- $41,106 median federal loan debt among completers
- $43,765 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 1.62 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 8.0% of graduates not working and not enrolled one year out (program cohort)
Source: College Scorecard program-level outcomes aggregated by 4-digit CIP family.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$40,621 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Film/Cinema/Media Studies majors is $40,621.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Film/Cinema/Media Studies majors.
Occupations by Share
1,596,050 2023 Workforce
The number of Film/Cinema/Media Studies graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Film/Cinema/Media Studies by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Film/Cinema/Media Studies in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Film/Cinema/Media Studies.
Age distribution for Film/Cinema/Media Studies degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
4,575 Total Degrees Awarded
2,304 Male (50.36%)
2,271 Female (49.64%)
Gender distribution of Film/Cinema/Media Studies degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
2,191 White (47.89%)
895 Hispanic or Latino (19.56%)
401 Asian (8.77%)
365 Black or African American (7.98%)
316 Two or More Races (6.91%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Film/Cinema/Media Studies degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Film/Cinema/Media Studies are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Film/Cinema/Media Studies.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Film/Cinema/Media Studies field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Film/Cinema/Media Studies majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Film/Cinema/Media Studies majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for Film/Cinema/Media Studies majors.
About
A program in the visual arts that focuses on the study of the history, development, theory, and criticism of the film/media arts, as well as the basic principles of filmmaking and film production
In 2023, 4,575 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Film/Cinema/Media Studies.
CIP Code
50.0601 - Film/Cinema/Media Studies
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $41,106 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $43,765, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 1.62. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Film/Cinema/Media Studies graduate.
About 8.0% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians. That is a program-level mobility signal, not a national underemployment rate.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $64,987. The largest mapped role by headcount is Teachers, Postsecondary (1,500,000 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $6,088 in-state at public colleges and $42,942 at private institutions for programs in this field.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.