Top universities with Scholarship or Assistantship?

[Minako]

Hi everyone!

I'm planning to apply to Graduate program in Los Angeles. Do you know any universities that provide full tuition covering Scholarship or Assistantship for Master degree program?

Thank you.

 

[Kira]

Hi Minako! Unfortunately, funding for MFA in film or TV is quite limited (unlike funding for the MFA in Creative Writing)... I know that at Northwestern (in Chicago) if you TA for a quarter your second year, then you don't pay tuition for that quarter. I'm sure there are some schools in the LA area that have full tuition (or partial and you can cover the rest with outside scholarships or assistantships). USC has a few (thanks George Lucas) and I'm sure other schools have something, but you have to do research and apply. I've read that some scholarships are given with your acceptance letter as is and others you have to go through an additional interview.

What type of MFA are you looking at?

 

[Minako]

Hi Kira!

Thank you very much for respond!
Yea, I found that funding for education in film school is limited.
I'm looking for MFA in cinematography. What about you?

 

[Kira]

That's exciting! I am applying for MFA in Screenwriting. Are there any schools in particular that you're looking at?

 

[Minako]

Cool!
I was looking at AFI and NYFA, but they don't have full scholarships.

 

[BadouBoy]

Hey guys! I've been looking for this same information myself for a while now- I'm applying for an MFA in Directing for Fall 2017. AFI actually does offer some full tuition scholarships, according to their website anyway. Also, I've read that teaching assistantships usually go to film students who are already enrolled, but I don't know for sure.
I would suggest shooting an email to the Admissions/Financial Aid office of some places you might be interested in. In my experience, most schools are really vague about scholarship information on their websites.

 

[WriterGirl]

TAs are usually offered to second years only, and that is in the schools that have such an option (AFI isn't one as they expect students to be ONLY STUDYING 100% of the time).