Photojournalism is a very important field of work. Without photojournalism, the average citizen in many areas of the world possibly wouldn’t be aware of what’s happening that is newsworthy.
The best photojournalism schools in the world provide the training and the framework for you to be able to portray what is going on around us. Read on to see what I discovered!
17 Best Photojournalism Colleges in the World In 2023
1. George Washington University
An excellent area to be in for putting into practice what you are learning, George Washington University (GWU) is located in Washington D.C., the capital of the USA. Founded in 1821 by an act of Congress, GWU hosts 14 schools within its educational system.
Corcoran College of the Arts and Design is the school where you will earn an undergraduate photojournalism degree. While learning and practicing in the classes, internships are available with respected publications based in the DC area.
Washington Post and U.S. News and World Report are two examples of that. Among the faculty, some courses are taught by instructors associated with National Geographic Magazine.
Core tenets and methods of journalism are part of the class load. In addition, photographic studies of light, composition, and color are included, as is training in multimedia technology.
2. University of the Arts London
Additionally, UAL has a bachelor’s and a Master’s program in Photojournalism that are taught in London, UK.
London is another of the world’s leading important cities and is a center for government, business, and art. UAL is one of the top schools in the world in Art and Design.
Established in 1986 with a merger of seven different colleges, the roots of the original schools go back to the mid-1800s.
Entrance requirements are rather strict, they only accept top applicants for any semester. The education received in the degree programs ensures that these top applicants leave as superbly trained photojournalists.
Importantly, a degree from UAL will get your foot in the door of major news organizations around the world.
3. Rochester Institute of Technology
One of the best polytechnical schools for a wide range of different fields of study, the photojournalism department of RIT awards undergrad and graduate degrees along with a superior education.
Either a BS or a BFA is available in Photography and RIT allows specifications for Photojournalism. It’s a medium-sized school, many subjects are taught here.
Plus, an advantage of attending a polytechnic school like this one is the cross-disciplinary approach they encourage for a well-rounded education.
Henrietta, NY, USA, a suburb of Rochester, is home to the school, which has been around since 1829.
4. California College of the Arts
The education given here is also interdisciplinary. CCA staff actively encourages sharing ideas, goals, and methods.
A strong focus of this school is the photography aspect of photojournalism, with storytelling being stressed for documentary and journalistic aspects of photography.
In addition, degrees are undergrad and graduate, with the ability to assign yourself multiple minors in the various Arts and Design subjects.
CCA has two schools in the Bay Area, one in San Francisco, CA, and the other in Oakland. It was founded in 1907.
It is located within a vibrant community with many cultures from around the world represented, making this area a great place to study for a photojournalism degree.
5. University of Central Florida
UCF offers a BS in Photography degree program which includes courses such as Narrative Editorial Photography and Photo Visualization which are vital skills for photojournalists.
The degree program is actually split between UCF and Daytona State College nearby. This allows for a lot of growth students can take advantage of the networking opportunities provided by being in two universities.
Established in 1963 in Orlando, Florida, it has one of the largest student bodies in the USA.
6. Drexel University
Drexel University is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and provides education in Arts, Science, and Technology. It was founded in 1891 and offers degrees at undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate levels.
One of the special things about the degree programs at Drexel is the ability to fully customize your courses starting in the second year of the four-year program.
Consistently ranked high, Drexel graduates are poised to become leaders in their field of choice.
7. Boston University
Besides, You learn best by learning from the best. Many of the faculty at BU are award winners, including Pulitzer Prize winners.
How deep into communication is Boston U? Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in a lab here. That was 1876, and things have kept progressing since.
Photojournalism degrees are offered as graduate degrees, so you will need an undergrad degree to qualify for acceptance.
Several undergrad degree programs at BU apply to photography, media, and the news, so you could simply stay here for your entire college period.
Located in busy Boston, Massachusetts, BU has been operating since 1869.
8. Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
RMIT offers students an undergraduate degree specifically in Photojournalism. Founded in 1887, RMIT is located in Melbourne, Australia, one of the busier cities in Oceania. Thus it is a prime city in which to study arts, sciences, or journalism.
RMIT partners with other universities throughout Asia and Oceania in countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, China, and also in Singapore, and Hong Kong.
9. The University of Queensland, Australia
UQ’s undergraduate photojournalism degree program covers all forms of visual journalism. Television, news, features and current affairs, photojournalism, and video journalism are among the visual forms examined and taught.
Situated in one of Australia’s busiest cities, Brisbane, Queensland, UQ is able to introduce photojournalism students to work-life in the real world.
The university is host to a large array of studies and programs, enabling students to study across disciplines.
Interestingly, the university was founded in 1909, it is Australia’s fifth oldest university.
10. Kent State University
Kent, Ohio, USA, not the other Kent (a county near London). Additionally, it has been there since 1910.
Kent State already holds a place of distinction in photojournalism, having been the subject of one of the most moving images of the US students protesting the Vietnam war.
Kent State University hosts a large number of degree programs and other classes to pursue as a minor. Undergraduate degrees are the most common. Their photojournalism courses are fine examples of the art and science of the field.
11. Ohio University
The first-ever university chartered by the Congress of the US (in 1787), Ohio University opened its doors to students in Athens, Ohio in 1809.
Over 250 fields of study are available for undergraduate degrees, and quite a few of those are eligible for graduate and post-grad level degrees.
The field of Journalism is eligible for an undergraduate degree. Visual Communications with photojournalism as a major is another undergrad degree offered.
12. University of Central Oklahoma
Edmond, Oklahoma, in the USA, is pretty much in the heart of America’s Heartland. Culturally, it has aspects of the American South, Midwest, the West, and the Southwest.
Home to cowboys, bankers, artists, and oil exploration, central Oklahoma is also home to a fine small school, the University of Central Oklahoma UCO.
Founded in 1890, UCO is the oldest public university in Oklahoma, predating statehood even.
It has degree programs for undergrad and graduate levels, with a strong focus on the Arts. It has one of the best photojournalism courses in the USA.
Plus, it is also very friendly cost-wise to students desiring an education away from the intensity of big cities.
13. Western Kentucky University
Bowling Green Kentucky has been home to Western Kentucky University since 1909.
It offers undergraduate and graduates degrees in photojournalism through the Potter College of Arts and Letters.
Additionally, as with many American small colleges, job placement and internship programs are part of the advantage of choosing a good school with a strong photojournalism department.
A cross-discipline approach is encouraged. Journalism students can have minors in other Arts or in Science, Business, and Education.
14. Randolph Community College
As we mentioned in the introduction, not all good education has to have a bachelor’s, master’s, or Ph.D. as the end result.
The other degrees, diplomas, and certificates are also indicators to prospective employers of a strong learning base for photojournalism.
This school in Asheboro, North Carolina, is an example of that. Offering an Associate of Applied Science in Photojournalism, Randolph Community College has been graduating superbly trained photojournalists since 1962.
15. Full Sail University
With a physical presence in Winter Park, Florida, since 1979, the big deal with this university is the online full degree programs available since 2007.
A full university degree, bachelor’s and master’s, is available completely online for students in Media Journalism and several other related fields.
16. London School of Journalism
Staffed almost entirely by actual journalists, LSJ offers a postgraduate diploma (similar to a Master’s degree) in journalism.
So, you will have to have already completed an undergraduate degree in order to attend, but not necessarily in journalism or photojournalism. This is also a good school for political science majors or those working in public relations.
Established in London, UK, in 1919, the London School of Journalism has developed into a thoroughly modern online-only school.
Media studies are not taught here. It is pure journalism. This can really boost the abilities and quality skills of anyone with a Bachelor’s in photojournalism as it concentrates on telling news stories properly.
17. Loyalist College
Career-minded training is the focus of Loyalist College. It offers training, diplomas, and postgraduate diplomas in a variety of subjects including photojournalism.
Located in Ontario, Canada, it was established in 1967 in the city of Belleville.
The main purpose of this school is to put people to work as soon as possible with a high-quality education.
The photojournalism courses follow this formula, proving to students what is needed to succeed in that fascinating field.
What is photojournalism?
At its most basic, photojournalism is telling a news story by means of some form of the visual medium.
It differs from other forms of photography such as documentary, street, paparazzi, or candid photography in that a photojournalist adheres to the professional ethics of journalism.
Importantly, there is a definite set of ethics that journalists must work within. A story must be presented impartially and honestly.
A photojournalist tells a story with pictures in a way that is accurate and yet entertaining. Three core requirements exist for photojournalism.
A story should be significant and timely. Candid images of a local engagement party may be significant to a few, but a local school board meeting affects more people.
Additionally, timely doesn’t have to mean current to the minute, but it should be recent enough for the significance to still matter.
Documenting the climbing season of Mt Everest, for instance, won’t be up to the minute current, but it is still time if published a short time afterward.
A story should be told in a manner that is objective and impartial. If we only present events or subjects in a way that promotes a certain point of view, it is editorial, not purely journalistic.
If as a journalist we were to adjust things in any way to make a story or image more interesting, we lose credibility and the work may be seen as misleading or outright dishonest.
There should be a narrative that the images relate to viewers. Sometimes this may require a series of photographs that can tell the story on their own. Or the images can combine with other elements, perhaps the written word.
Plus, a single image can tell a story also. The Challenger explosion or the Kent State protestor shooting are examples of a single image that tells a story all on its own.
Even those images required timeliness, though, in order to have been photojournalism. Now, those two images are documentary history.
Of course, a photojournalist must also master the art and craft of photography. So, there are several very good reasons photojournalists benefit from a superior education. An education may result in a degree, a diploma, a certificate, or continuing education.
With that in mind, this list will branch out from major colleges and universities and will include some institutes besides degree-granting schools.
Some regionally small schools show up, too. As long as we’re searching for a photojournalism education, we’ll stay open to a wide variety of possibilities.