There are hundreds of undergraduate programs in film in the U.S., the best being in New York City, Florida, and Los Angeles, California, the main areas of the film industry. Undergraduate programs are far different from film production schools or institutes, where you can earn only a certificate. Undergraduate programs in film award degrees, which are valuable in the American workplace.
Think you might want to study film? Well, the first step is to select a college or film production school or institute with the right programs in film. A film production school or institute might be cheaper and take less amount of time to complete, with all the benefits of learning technical skills and networking, however, at the end of the program you will not receive the traditional degree that many universities and colleges award. In other job fields, you cannot get hired without a degree. In the film industry you have a little more freedom and often do not need a degree, just training and expertise. However, for those who want to be on the safe side, a degree can be obtained from any accredited college or universities. Looking at the right undergraduate programs in film is a step in the right direction to getting a job in the film industry.
There are hundreds of colleges and universities with undergraduate programs in film around the U.S. However, a big part of breaking into the film industry is all about who you know. It is a smart idea to pick a film school close to the industry. The two major cities where the industry functions in the U.S. are Orlando, Florida, New York City, and Los Angeles, California.
In the northeast of the US, New York City offers many undergraduate programs in film for international students to choose from. The City University of New York is one of the nation's leading urban public university serving more than 480,000 students at 24 colleges and institutions in New York City, including 11 senior colleges and seven community colleges, according to their website. Among these colleges and universities, five of them have film and cinema studies including Brooklyn College, the City College of New York, the College of Staten Island, Hunter College, and Queens College.
Columbia University has another notable undergraduate program in film in the City. Colombia University is part of the Ivy League and is a very prestigious university.
New York University is also a notable college for undergraduate film programs. The Tisch School of the Arts has 350 international students currently enrolled from 60 different countries. Tisch's Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film & Television has studies in film and television, photography, telecommunications and dramatic writing. Tisch's Skirball Center for New Media has studies in cinema and moving image archiving and preservation.
On the other side of the country, Los Angeles, California is possibly a bigger area for the film industry. Here is Hollywood and the major and legendary film studios.
In West Los Angeles is Loyola Marymount University, a Catholic university. The majority of its students are undergraduate students. At Loyola Marymount University is the School of Film and Television, which offers undergraduate degrees in animation, film and television production, recording arts, screenwriting, and film and television studies.
At the University of Southern California, there are approximately 6,900 undergraduate international students. At the University of Southern California is the USC School of Cinema Studies which offers undergraduate programs in film and television production, interactive media, animation and digital arts, writing for screen and television, and critical studies.
The University of Los Angeles is another university that is renowned for its film program. The university's freshmen and transfer students have a 91% success and progress rate – that's the percentage who graduate or remain in good standing after four years and two years for transfers, according to its website. The School of Theatre, Film and Television offers an undergraduate program in film and television.
There are other cities in other states that offer undergraduate programs in film, but international students ought to be positioned close to Los Angeles, Orlando and New York City in order to make connections to professionals in the industry, as well get internships in the industry.