Whether you picture yourself as the person shouting “Lights, camera, action!” or one of the many professionals involved in providing those elements, a degree in film can help you achieve your career goals. Contrary to popular opinion, film can be a versatile and lucrative college major. Beyond actors and directors, countless other people are involved in film and the term “film” extends far past Hollywood blockbusters. A film degree can prepare you for a variety of roles within this dynamic field and can also help you hone your skills and make your mark on the world with your art.
However practical and fulfilling it may be, a film degree is still expensive. While federal aid and student loans can help you shoulder the burden of your film school bills, taking on too much debt can limit your post-graduation prospects and make it hard to get your film career off the ground. Luckily, there are a number of film scholarships to help you pay for school.
You can read through the examples on this page to get an idea of some of the film scholarships available to film students. Some are academic scholarships specifically for film majors, while others are video contests open to everyone. Your college may offer some film scholarships specifically for majors and a variety of local and national awards like those given by AFI and the Screen Actors Guild. There are numerous other film scholarship opportunities out there, too, both based on your major and on other award criteria. To find a full list of scholarships you may qualify for based on your unique characteristics, conduct a free scholarship search on Scholarships.com.
Applicants must complete 75+ hours of college course work by December of the year of the award, but must not graduate before December. Must have a inimum 3.25 GPA out of 4.0 and must be enrolled as a full-time student (carrying a minimum of 12 hours per semester) at an Austin or San Marcos area university, with a declared major in radio, television, film, digital media, public relations, [...] More
The UFVA sponsored Carole Fielding Student Grants are not tuition-based scholarships. Categories for the grants are narrative, documentary, experimental, animation, multimedia, and research. For research proposals, a description of the methodology to be employed and a statement indicating the relationship of the proposed study to previous research in the field. For more information or to apply, [...] More
The CBC Spouses Visual Arts Scholarship was established in 2006 to provide financial assistance to African-American or Black students who are pursuing a degree in the visual arts. Visual arts include architecture, ceramics, drawing, fashion, graphic design, illustration, interior design, painting, photography, sketching, video production, etc.
Selected applicants will be constituents of a CBC [...] More
The Francis D. Lyon Scholarships are available to students of film making. Mr. Lyon had a distinguished motion picture and television career as a film editor, director and producer. He received an Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for best film editor in 1948 for the movie "Body and Soul."
Both undergraduate and graduate students are invited to apply. To be considered [...] More
The Charles & Lucille King Family Foundation awards scholarships to outstanding undergraduate students studying television and film production. Awards are given to juniors and seniors who demonstrate academic excellence, financial need, and professional potential. For more information or to apply, please visit the scholarship provider's [...] More
The NATAS-Upper Midwest Chapter/Foundation offers $2,500 student scholarship grants to be used for tuition & books. Scholarships are open to high school and college/university students living in the five-state area served by the Upper Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. (Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa & western Wisconsin).
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's engineering school will soon be called the "Grainger College of Engineering" after receiving another $100 million gift from The Grainger Foundation. The Grainger donation is the largest amount ever gifted to a public university to rename a college. [...]
Thirteen parents and one coach charged in the "Operation Varsity Blues" college cheating scandal will plead guilty in accordance with plea agreements. While elite parents implicated in the admissions scandal cheated to help their children get into college, there is a growing concern about how students, in general, may be cheating their way through college; specifically by buying ghostwritten essays online. [...]
Why not have schools auction off college seats to the highest bidder? The question was posed by a senior vice president at the Harvard Management Company on his public LinkedIn page amid the recent national college admissions cheating scandal. According to Michael Cappucci, it is simply "an honest question." He goes on to ask, "Why do we have a system where wealthy parents have to make shady payments to even more shady intermediaries to get their kids into college?" The post, which has since been removed but still drew much online anger was authored by Cappucci who is "not a top official" at the company; many people still presumed Harvard is connected to his idea, according to Inside Higher Ed, but Harvard was quick to distance itself from the LinkedIn post. [...]
