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Major · Visual & Performing Arts

Understand cinema — its history, theory, and the industry behind the screen

Film/Cinema/Media Studies examines how films and media are made, what they mean, and how they shape culture — combining historical study, critical theory, and foundational production literacy. About 4,438 degrees are awarded annually across 227 colleges, with the major offered primarily at the bachelor's level at public research universities.

Schools offering
227
Annual completions
4,438
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$44k

About this major

Film/Cinema/Media Studies is organized around understanding film and media — how they develop historically, what techniques and conventions define them, how critical theory helps explain their cultural effects, and what the industrial structures of film and media production look like from the inside. The CIP definition describes a program focused on "the history, development, theory, and criticism of the film/media arts" alongside foundational production principles. In practice, most programs weight the analytical side heavily: students read theory, write criticism, study film history from early cinema through the streaming era, and develop the vocabulary to situate specific films in historical and cultural context. The production component, when present, tends to be introductory rather than craft-intensive.

The major draws students interested in film and media as objects of serious study — people who want to understand why certain films become culturally dominant, how genre conventions evolve, what editing or cinematographic choices mean at the level of interpretation, and how industries shape the art they produce. It also attracts students who are interested in working in film without the production-track emphasis: programmers, critics, development assistants, festival coordinators, and acquisitions and distribution roles all draw on the analytical training this degree provides. The two tracked career destinations are producers and directors, at a $83,480 median wage and a bachelor's as the typical credential, and postsecondary art and media teachers at $80,190, which typically requires graduate study beyond the bachelor's.

In terms of scale, about 4,438 degrees are awarded annually across 227 colleges — somewhat smaller than the closely related Cinematography and Film/Video Production field, which produces about 6,935 completions per year across 258 institutions. The enrollment is concentrated at public research universities, particularly in California and the Southeast, which gives this major an unusually favorable cost profile relative to its career outcomes.

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

Occupation Median wage Job growth Typical education
Producers and directors $83k +4.9% Bachelor's degree
Art, drama, and music teachers, postsecondary $80k +1.7% Master's degree
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Median 5-year earnings

$44k

Associate's vs Bachelor's — early-career earnings

Associate's

$34k

Bachelor's

$45k

Who this major is for

You may thrive here if film and media genuinely interest you as cultural and historical objects rather than primarily as things to make — if reading criticism, writing about cinema, and building a framework for understanding how media shapes public life sounds like substantive work rather than a consolation prize for students who can't get into production programs. You may also fit well if you're drawn to the producing or directing path and prefer to approach it through a critical and industry-analytical lens, since the bachelor's is the standard credential for that career and the public-university schools that dominate enrollment in this major deliver the degree at a cost that makes the five-year median across degree levels of $44,341 a workable starting point. And if graduate school in film studies, journalism, media law, or arts administration is part of your longer-term plan, this major gives you the analytical foundation that most of those programs expect.

Think twice if your primary interest in film is operating cameras, directing on set, and building a production portfolio — that is what Cinematography and Film/Video Production (50.0602) is organized to teach, and it produces roughly 6,935 graduates annually through programs explicitly built around that craft. Think twice also if you expect either tracked career — producing/directing or postsecondary teaching — to be immediately accessible after graduation: the producing path has a long, low-paid entry phase, and teaching at $80,190 median is not reachable without a graduate degree. The five-year median across degree levels is $44,341 — about $45,384 for bachelor's completers specifically — and students who understand what that early-career arc looks like before enrolling navigate it with less friction than those who do not.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Film/Cinema/Media Studies

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA 0 230 230
Georgia State University Atlanta, GA 0 227 227
Full Sail University Winter Park, FL 6 206 212
University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA 0 196 196
San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA 0 184 184
University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA 0 135 135
University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT 0 127 127
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI 0 108 108
University of New Mexico-Main Campus Albuquerque, NM 0 103 103
University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA 0 89 89
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General

8,737 completions/yr

Cinematography and Film/Video Production

6,935 completions/yr

Photography

1,496 completions/yr

Film/Video and Photographic Arts, Other

1,269 completions/yr

Musical Theatre

1,121 completions/yr

Dramatic/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft, Other

208 completions/yr

Theatre/Theatre Arts Management

146 completions/yr

Theatre and Dance

116 completions/yr

Considering this direction?

We've taken a hard look at the debt, earnings trajectory, and degree-level tradeoffs for the Film/Cinema/Media Studies field. Read our verdict before you commit.

Is Film/Cinema/Media Studies worth it? Read verdict
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

What do Film/Cinema/Media Studies majors actually study day-to-day?
The curriculum centers on how films and media work — historically, theoretically, and technically. Students analyze films as texts, trace the development of cinema from early silents through contemporary streaming platforms, and engage with critical frameworks that explain how meaning is constructed on screen. The CIP definition notes that the major also covers "basic principles of filmmaking and film production," so most programs include some hands-on production exposure alongside the analytical coursework. Upper-division work often focuses on specific periods, genres, national cinemas, or media forms — documentary, television, digital media — depending on program emphasis. You spend more time writing about and analyzing film than you do operating a camera.
What's the difference between Film/Cinema/Media Studies and Cinematography and Film/Video Production?
These two majors within the same CIP family are organized around different goals. Cinematography and Film/Video Production (50.0602, about 6,935 completions annually) is production-focused — students learn camera operation, editing, lighting, directing, and crew management, with the goal of making films professionally. Film/Cinema/Media Studies (this major, 50.0601, about 4,438 completions) is analysis-focused — students learn to read, contextualize, and critically evaluate film and media rather than produce them. Both majors share some career overlap at the producer/director level, and both show a five-year median around $44,341, so the ROI picture is similar. The real question is what kind of engagement with film you find meaningful: studying and writing about it, or making it.
What kinds of jobs do Film/Cinema/Media Studies graduates end up in?
Two careers are tracked directly for this major. Producers and directors carry a median wage of $83,480 with 4.9% projected job growth and list a bachelor's degree as the typical entry credential — this is the most accessible high-earning path from this degree. Art, drama, and music teachers at the postsecondary level have a $80,190 median wage, but that role typically requires a master's degree, meaning a bachelor's in this field is a first step toward that destination, not an entry point. Beyond those tracked occupations, graduates work in adjacent fields: media criticism, arts journalism, content strategy, film festival and distribution work, programming and curation roles in cultural institutions, and corporate communications. Those paths do not appear in BLS wage data but absorb a meaningful share of graduates.
Why is the five-year median earnings so much lower than the tracked career wages?
The five-year median for this major is about $44,341 — but the two tracked careers show medians above $80,000. The gap is real and worth understanding before enrolling. One structural factor is that producing and directing is a career with a steep experience curve: entry-level positions in production, development, and distribution pay substantially less than established credits-and-track-record roles. A second factor is that the media and film industry operates heavily on contract and freelance arrangements, especially early in careers, which compresses reported income at the five-year mark. And the postsecondary teaching destination is effectively unavailable without graduate study, so it does not pull up the five-year undergraduate median at all. The $44K figure reflects where graduates actually are five years out — not a ceiling, but an honest snapshot of the transition period.
Does the top-school profile for this major affect the cost calculation?
Yes, and in an unusually favorable way for this major. Nine of the ten highest-completing schools are public research universities: California State University Long Beach, Georgia State, UC Santa Barbara, San Francisco State, UC Irvine, University of Utah, UW-Milwaukee, University of New Mexico, and UC Berkeley. Full Sail University — a private institution — is the one exception at number three by completions, but the group is still dominated by public-school tuition structures. That is a markedly different profile than cinematography production programs, where private arts institutions (Emerson, NYU, SCAD, Chapman) dominate enrollment. A Film/Cinema/Media Studies program at a UC campus or a CSU carries tuition that makes a $44K five-year median a much more manageable return than the same earnings figure from a $55,000-per-year private arts school. If cost of attendance is part of your decision, this major's dominant school type works in your favor.
Is a bachelor's in Film/Cinema/Media Studies sufficient, or will I need graduate school?
For the producing and directing path — the more accessible of the two tracked careers — a bachelor's is the listed typical credential and a viable entry point. For postsecondary teaching ($80,190 median), a master's or doctoral degree is effectively required, so the undergraduate degree functions as a prerequisite rather than the destination credential. Many students in this major do pursue graduate study: an MFA in film, an MA in film studies, or a transition into law, journalism, media management, or cultural policy. The bachelor's degree gives you a foundation in critical thinking, writing, and film literacy that transfers across those directions, but if teaching or research in the field is your goal, you should plan for graduate school as part of the path rather than an optional add-on.