This year marks the 10th time TheWrap has ranked the top 50 U.S. film schools and the second year we’ve partnered with the data research company Screen Engine/ASI to implement a data-driven ranking system. Kevin Goetz’s company created a detailed survey and used the answers to score each institution on a wide variety of factors, which are explained in greater detail in the methodology page at the bottom of this post.

The results were similar to last year’s rankings, with NYU retaining its No. 1 position and 35 of the top 50 institutions landing within five spots of their 2024 ranking. Schools that made substantial jumps this year included the Savannah College of Art and Design, Biola University and California State University, Northridge. Penn State University and Belmont University made the list for the first time, and in addition we’ve included a couple of honorable mentions to watch out for in the future. It’s also worth noting that almost everybody told us they were planning new classes in AI.