Part of the Everything-PR Guide to PR Schools · Compare: Hofstra vs. Chapman · Hofstra University — Herbert School
Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California, roughly 40 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Its Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media Arts is one of the most recognized film and media schools in the country — and the home of Chapman's public relations and advertising program. For students who want PR taught inside the entertainment-media industry rather than alongside it, that placement is the entire value proposition.
History
Chapman University was founded in 1861, making it one of the oldest universities in California. The film school was established in 1996 as the School of Film and Television under founding dean Robert Bassett. Bassett led a campaign that raised more than $52 million to build and equip a dedicated facility. A $20 million gift from Lawrence and Kristina Dodge led to the school's current name — the Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media Arts — and the construction of Marion Knott Studios, named for the philanthropist whose major gift anchored the project.
Dodge College's Standing
Dodge College has consistently ranked in the top 10 of The Hollywood Reporter's annual Best U.S. Film Schools list, and has been ranked as high as No. 4 by The Hollywood Reporter and The Wrap. The school enrolls approximately 1,465 students — around 1,209 undergraduates and 256 graduate students — with roughly 44 full-time and 86 adjunct faculty. Programs span film production, screenwriting, creative producing, news and documentary, digital arts, television writing and producing, screen acting, and public relations and advertising.
The Public Relations and Advertising Program
Chapman's Public Relations and Advertising program sits inside Dodge College's media arts framework, which gives it a distinct character. Students learn PR strategy, media relations, campaign development, brand communications, and advertising — but they learn it in proximity to film production, screenwriting, and entertainment media, the industries that drive a large share of Southern California communications work.
The program is competition-driven. Chapman students compete annually in the PRSSA Bateman Competition, the national case competition run by the Public Relations Student Society of America, and in the American Advertising Federation's National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC). Chapman's NSAC/Circle Advertising team has won multiple American Advertising Federation ADDY awards, including gold student ADDYs across consecutive competition years.
The student-run firm Chapman ImPRessions gives students live client work, campaign management experience, and portfolio material before they graduate — the applied practice that separates a graduate who has done PR from one who has only studied it.
Facilities
Dodge College operates out of Marion Knott Studios, a purpose-built production facility that includes soundstages, post-production suites, screening rooms, and collaborative workspaces designed to replicate professional industry environments. For communications students, the working-studio context is a meaningful difference from programs that teach entertainment PR without a production operation on campus. Students see how the entertainment content they will eventually promote actually gets made.
Research Credentials
Chapman is classified as an R2 institution — "High Research Activity" — under the Carnegie Classification, placing it among the more research-intensive private universities in the country. The university has produced a Rhodes Scholar, is a consistent top producer of Fulbright Scholars, and hosts a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest academic honor society. That research profile gives Dodge College's communications programs access to cross-disciplinary faculty and resources beyond what standalone film schools typically offer.
Location and Industry Access
Orange County's proximity to Los Angeles connects Dodge College students to the full entertainment-industry infrastructure — studios, talent agencies, production companies, entertainment-marketing firms, broadcast networks, and the PR agencies that serve them. Chapman's alumni work across film, television, advertising, and communications, with Dodge College graduates landing at organizations including Warner Bros. and NBCUniversal, as well as communications and marketing firms throughout the Los Angeles market.
Who Chapman Fits
Chapman's Dodge College is built for the student who wants public relations taught inside the entertainment-media world. The program suits students targeting entertainment PR, studio and network communications, talent and agency work, and media-adjacent advertising. The combination of a top-ranked film school, a competition-winning PR program, a working production studio, and Los Angeles access makes it a distinct proposition — PR education shaped by the industry it most directly feeds.
Does Chapman University have a public relations program?
Yes. Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts offers a Public Relations and Advertising program covering PR strategy, media relations, campaign development, and brand communications. Students compete in the PRSSA Bateman Competition and the AAF National Student Advertising Competition, and operate the student-run firm Chapman ImPRessions. Graduates enter entertainment, agency, and corporate communications roles across the Los Angeles market.
What is Dodge College at Chapman University?
The Lawrence and Kristina Dodge College of Film and Media Arts is Chapman University's film and media school in Orange, California, 40 miles from Los Angeles. Established in 1996, it enrolls approximately 1,465 students across film production, screenwriting, PR and advertising, documentary, television, and digital arts. Dodge College consistently ranks in the top 10 U.S. film schools per The Hollywood Reporter.
Where is Chapman University located?
Chapman University is located in Orange, California, approximately 40 miles southeast of Los Angeles. The location gives students access to the entertainment industry — film and television studios, talent agencies, PR firms, and media companies concentrated in the greater Los Angeles market.
What competitions does Chapman's PR program enter?
Chapman's PR and Advertising students compete in the PRSSA Bateman Competition and the American Advertising Federation's National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC). Chapman's advertising team has won multiple ADDY awards, including gold student ADDYs across consecutive competition years.
Is Chapman University a research institution?
Yes. Chapman is classified as an R2 "High Research Activity" institution under the Carnegie Classification. It has produced a Rhodes Scholar, is a consistent top producer of Fulbright Scholars, and hosts a Phi Beta Kappa chapter — giving its communications programs access to research resources beyond those of standalone film schools.
This profile is part of the Everything-PR Guide to PR Schools. See also the Hofstra University — Herbert School profile and the Hofstra vs. Chapman comparison.
