Debate revolves around the selection of the top graduate film schools in the United States, but your own choice must involve more than a simple rating by an outside agency or group of students. Selection of a graduate program involves matching your interests with the individual programs. Investigation of funding levels, the types of course offerings and the connections offered to students in capturing internships and assistantships in a specific work field draw students to some programs over others. At several schools, including the University of Colorado, Boulder, students can earn higher-education degrees in film studies and analysis.
West coast schools such as San Francisco State University, the University of California, Santa Barbara, Stanford University and the University of Southern California (USC) offer graduate film programs. The American Film Institute Conservatory in Los Angeles, the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena also enroll students in graduate film programs. The California College of the Arts in Oakland enrolls more than 1,710 graduate film students each year. The school with the largest graduate film enrollment is the University of California, Los Angeles, with more than 38,000 students. The University of Colorado, Boulder, has a film studies program that earns students a master of fine arts.
East coast schools for graduate film include both private and public colleges. New York University has 42,000 students. Boston University, Columbia University and the City University of New York's College of Staten Island also have graduate film programs. Yale University offers a film program with more than 10,000 students participating in courses and film study at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Midwestern schools offering graduate film programs include the University of Chicago, Carnegie Mellon, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. The Film Studies Center at the University of Chicago also has a certificate program for adult students wishing to pursue film study. The non-credit program through the Graham School of General Studies earns a Certificate in the Language of Film and assists the recipient in understanding film for employment or careers enhanced by film study. The University of Pittsburgh grants both graduate degrees in cinema and also subject-area certificates. The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor allows students to complete a doctorate in Screen Arts and Cultures and also a certificate program in the same study area.
Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, offers students the only university or college program for film study in the American South. The graduate program focuses on film history and criticism and also on film methodologies and media theory. Emory, a private university, also operates an undergraduate program for the study of film.