San Francisco Film School
About
San Francisco Film School, also formerly known as the San Francisco School of Digital Filmmaking and FilmSchoolSF, is a private, for-profit vocational film school in San Francisco, California. The school was founded by Stephen Kopels and Jeremiah Birnbaum in 2005 and works in conjunction with Fog City Productions, a local independent production company, to teach students the art and craft of filmmaking. The programs include an Associate of Applied Sciences in Digital Filmmaking, a Professional Certificate program, workshops, and a GAP Year Semester Program.
Graduation rate & outcomes
Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.
Pell equity
Pell and non-Pell students graduate at nearly identical rates — a notably small equity gap.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 2 Title IV programs, 0 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 2 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing0 · 0.0%
- No Data2 · 100.0%
- Failing0 · 0.0%
Severity spectrum
Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
Council on Occupational Education
Council on Occupational Education
Action history · 13
- Jun 2025Renewal of AccreditationCouncil on Occupational Education
- Mar 2021Approved for Distance EducationCouncil on Occupational Education
- Dec 2020Approved for Distance EducationCouncil on Occupational Education
- Dec 2020Approved for Distance EducationCouncil on Occupational Education
- Nov 2019Renewal of AccreditationCouncil on Occupational Education
Tuition & cost
What families actually pay, broken down by family income.
Net price by family income
Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, 63 students received $398K in Pell grants, alongside $530K in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 32 borrowers who entered repayment, 5 (15.6%) defaulted within three years — above the 2.3% national rate.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.
Academic programs at San Francisco Film School
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Top program families by completions
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Race / ethnicity composition
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
No hate crimes reported.
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
San Francisco Film School vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions San Francisco Film School selected for federal comparison reporting.
A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.
| Carnegie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectSan Francisco Film School | 67% | — | 127 | $31,029 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts-Austin | — | — | 305 | $20,738 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts-Boulder | — | — | 8,504 | $12,193 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
Culinary Institute Inc | — | — | 316 | $26,470 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
Delta College of Arts & Technology | — | — | 326 | $19,590 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
Douglas Education Center | — | — | 178 | $26,922 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
FINE Mortuary College | — | 76.5% | 185 | — | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
Jna Institute of Culinary Arts | — | — | 15 | $16,679 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
KD Conservatory College of Film and Dramatic Arts | — | 68.2% | 70 | $24,148 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
Louisiana Culinary Institute | — | 37.5% | 77 | $29,765 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
MediaTech Institute-Dallas | — | — | 217 | $18,860 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
MediaTech Institute-Houston | — | — | 62 | $16,906 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
Miami Media School | — | 100.0% | 28 | $30,528 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts | — | 42.8% | 251 | $39,413 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
Theatre of Arts | — | 100.0% | 10 | — | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
Worsham College of Mortuary Science | — | 92.0% | 183 | $23,925 | Special Focus Two-Year: Arts & Design |
| Peer group median | 67% | 76.5% | 181 | $24,037 |
Reports & documents (1)
Dashboards, factbooks, data dictionaries, and other reference material published by the IR office.
Frequently asked questions about San Francisco Film School
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about San Francisco Film School.
What is the graduation rate at San Francisco Film School?
How many students attend San Francisco Film School?
What is the average net price at San Francisco Film School?
Where is San Francisco Film School located?
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