Online MFA in Digital Filmmaking Program Fees

Affordable Pay-As-You-Learn System: Pay for only one course at a time.

* The residential fee does not include housing, meals, or transportation; costs vary depending on the originating location of the student and the chosen accommodations. Anaheim University endeavors to find housing at a reasonable cost for students. For MFA students attending the residential, it is the students’ responsibility to ensure that they have taken care of proper visa procedures if required.

NOTE: The list of program fees does not include textbook fees, film viewing fees, equipment or CITI certification fees. Textbooks and film viewing average approximately $100 - $200 per course, and equipment fees average $2,200 for the program.  Students may wish to check with retailers to inquire about educational pricing.  Anaheim University can provide proof of enrollment upon request.  

Some courses require the submission of an original film project; production expenses are also the responsibility of the student and are not included in the MFA program fees.

Note: Anaheim University makes certain provisions in order to provide access to library resources and library services for all students enrolled directly through Anaheim University. However, students enrolled in Anaheim University’s online graduate degree programs are required to have an additional reserve fund to be used for the purchase of journals and research - materials that will aid them in their studies by providing information specific to their unique areas of interest and research - and to provide access to software and other resources that may help them in the completion of their studies. The research reserve fund is $1,500 for masters students to be used over the duration of their program. Students are not required to spend the entire research fund - only that amount necessary in order to carry out their research.

*Student Tuition Recovery Fund (STRF): The Student Tuition Recovery Fund (STRF) is administered by the California BPPE and applies only to California residents. The STRF fee is currently two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50) per one thousand dollars ($1,000) of institutional charges The State of California established the Student Tuition Recovery Fund (STRF) to relieve or mitigate economic loss suffered by a student in an educational program at a qualifying institution, who is or was a California resident while enrolled or was enrolled in a residency program, if the student enrolled in the institution, prepaid tuition, and suffered an economic loss. Unless relieved of the obligation to do so, you must pay the state-imposed assessment for the STRF, or it must be paid on your behalf, if you are a student in an educational program, who is a California resident, or are enrolled in a residency program, and prepay all or part of your tuition. You are not eligible for protection from the STRF and you are not required to pay the STRF assessment, if you are not a California resident, or are not enrolled in a residency program.

The above itemizes all of the fees and charges for which the student is responsible. Our refund policy can be found in the Policies and Procedures section.

Tuition may be paid on a course-by-course basis.

Students interested in inquiring about non-interest-bearing monthly payment plan options should e-mail registrar @ anaheim.edu

Students may make payment by check, credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover), money order or bank transfer (the student is responsible for any transaction fees imposed by the institution). 

Please e-mail registrar @ anaheim.edu for information on how to make payments.

An extension may be granted by the Dean to students requiring more time to complete the program.

Read more: Tuition & Fees and Equipment Requirements

An application to the MFA in Digital Filmmaking program must include the following:

• Application form
• Application fee ($75)
• One recent color photograph (digital is okay)
• A scan of a current, government-issued photo ID
• Official undergraduate transcripts from an accredited institution recognized by the US Department of Education and/or CHEA, or by the government of the country in which the degree was awarded, in a sealed envelope from the awarding institution with an overall GPA of no less than 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, or equivalent from non-USA Institutions.
  ( Note:  (Note: If the university does not routinely issue transcripts in English, original language records must be submitted with official English translations. We will accept translations issued by the university or by the following professional translation services: Accredited Language Services; Berlitz; Liaison Linguistics; Josef Silny & Associates; American Evaluation & Translation Services (AETS); and Education Evaluators International. Translations must be exact and complete versions of the original records.)
• A resume.
• A brief statement (300-400 words) indicating why you have selected the Anaheim University program, what you hope to get out of it, and how this degree will help to support your future career goals.  

Non-native English speakers must demonstrate college-level proficiency by providing original documentation in one of the following ways:

• Degree from an accredited institution where English is the primary language of instruction.
• Transcript from an accredited institution indicating completion of at least 30 semester hours of credit where the language of instruction was English (“B” average)
• Transcript from an accredited institution indicating a “B” or higher in an English composition class.
• A minimum TOEFL score of 530 PBT / 197 CBT/ 71 iBT.
• A minimum TOEIC score of 800.
• A minimum IELTS score of 6.5.
• A minimum PTE (Pearson Test of English Academic Score Report) of 50.
• A minimum grade of Level 3 on the ACT COMPASS’s English as a Second Language Placement Test.
• A minimum grade of Pre-1 on the Eiken English Proficiency Exam.
• A minimum B2 English proficiency level identified within the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) Standards and assessed through various ESOL examinations, including the University of Cambridge.

Once your application materials have been approved, you will need to submit an Enrollment Agreement and tuition payment to complete the enrollment process.

Internet Access: All students are required to have access to a computer equipped with Internet access capabilities.

Required Equipment: Students in the MFA in Digital Filmmaking program must have one from each category. Examples of each are listed.
You may wish to check with retailers to inquire about educational pricing. Anaheim University can provide proof of enrollment upon request.

Camera capable of shooting 1920x1080/24fps

• DSLR: Canon 5DMII, 5DMIII, 7D, 60D, Rebel T2i, T3i, Nikon D800, D90, D3200, etc.;
• Black Magic Pocket Camera;
• Mirrorless: Panasonic GH2, Sony A7, etc.

Lens(es)

• Focal length: 24-105mm. (Often the DSRL and mirrorless cameras listed above come with a stock lens that will cover this range).

Digital sound recorder with XLR inputs

• Tascam DR-40;
• Zoom H4N;
• Rode shotgun microphone and XLR cable

Basic Continuous Lighting Equipment

• Inexpensive brands: Impact, Manfrotto, Genaray
• More expensive: Arri lighting kits, Kino-flo

Basic Non-linear editing software

• Final Cut Pro (Available from Apple)
• Adobe Premiere Pro (academic discount)

Entrance Examination:  There is no entrance examination required for admission to Anaheim University.

Transfer Credits: Anaheim University will accept up to two graduate semester classes or 8 units awarded by another institution toward a Master of Fine Arts in Digital Filmmaking at Anaheim University. The entering student will be required to clearly demonstrate the equivalency of a transfer course through relevant documents (syllabus, catalog, course outline) and justify its acceptance through petition. No course will be considered for transfer with a grade lower than a “B” or its equivalent. Petitions are directed to the specific Dean for the affected program. There is a fee of $75 per course of credit transferred, and the overall program cost will be adjusted to reflect credit for the approved class(es). All petitions for transfer credit must be submitted as part of the student’s initial application to the University. Credits awarded as part of another degree will not be accepted for transfer.

Prior Experiential Credit: Anaheim University will not extend experiential credit to any student.

We currently do not accept students who reside in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wyoming due to regulatory matters. For more information, please call our Vice President of Administrative Affairs at 714-772-3330

Online Master of Fine Arts in Digital Filmmaking - Course Schedule 2024

Real-time online classes are 90 minutes; the first hour is led by the professor and the final half hour is for student-led discussion. All times are California/Pacific Time.

Akira Kurosawa School of Film

In the Anaheim University Akira Kurosawa School of Film online Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Digital Filmmaking degree program, you will take a total of 14 terms: 10 core courses, including a 2-term thesis, and 3 out of a choice of 8 elective courses.

Courses are taught in an accelerated semester format. Each term is 9 weeks in length, and you may enroll in new courses every 10 weeks. You have the option of enrolling in one course, several courses, or the entire MFA program. Students completing all 14 online terms and the required one-week residential session will be conferred the Master of Fine Arts in Digital Filmmaking degree by Anaheim University.

Read more: Curriculum