As a top film school in the nation, how do we compare? (Click to enlarge)
"There was a time not long ago, when prospective film students looking for the finest, immersive hands-on education - with access to top-of-the-line equipment, sound stages, postproduction facilities and world class faculty - had only a few expensive options; it was either New York or Los Angeles with not much in-between. Today,..., superlative programs from around the nation have emerged that rival the preeminent schools of the right and left coasts....like the Colorado Film School...."
(December 2009) International Cinematographers Guild (ICG) Magazine.
You may notice a few differences between the Colorado Film School and some of these other highly reputable institutions.
COST
The low cost of tuition at the Colorado Film School is realized by a two-institution partnership between the Community College of Aurora and Regis University. As a taxpayer-funded state institution CCA has access to tremendous resources such as our current state-of-the-art physical plant, as well as federal Perkins grants that give us new equipment funding each year. Regis University is a private institution that gives us a stable partner as state budgets fluctuate in difficult economic times. The Colorado Film School is able to rise above current economic challenges as many of our students come from outside of Colorado and their tuition dollars flow directly to the school insulating us against state cut-backs. Student fees, currently $150 per semester, bring in new cutting-edge equipment, production insurance for student shoots, and constant updating in labs and computer equipment.
The ways in which we have leveraged the costs of the four-year BFA program at the Colorado Film School means that our graduates have much lower debt as they enter the profession, which gives them greater latitude in their career pursuits. Students who are fortunate enough to have college funding in place already may find that having an extra $100,000 at graduation could fund their first feature film.
EMPHASES & CREDITS
As a professional training program CFS finds having specific emphases at the undergraduate level is highly important to creating successful careers. To be able to cover the breadth of the film/video/media industry a number of skills and content areas must be covered with a high level of rigor. As media has infused itself into all forms of global communications we are able to deliver significant portions of a liberal arts undergraduate education within the film/video/media context and content areas.
This means that there are fewer non-major courses that need to be taken. Of course if students find that Film/Video/Media is not their final destination, they can always transfer into a Regis 4 year BA Liberal Arts program to finish up without going back and taking a whole different course distribution.
ADVANCED IMMERSION
For students who are not looking for a four-year undergraduate BFA, but need intensive professional instruction for quick entry into the industry, we recommend the Advanced Immersion program, a favorite of many of our foreign students. This program has the same number of credits as a graduate MFA program at a much lower cost, and a much tighter time frame.
![](../"images/spacer.gif"){kind=spacer}