Chapman University

Chapman University is a private university in Orange County, California, founded in 1861 as Hesperian College in Woodland and later renamed for citrus grower Charles C. Chapman. Its historic campus is in the city of Orange; health-science programs occupy the Rinker Campus in Irvine. It is a comprehensive university with a Disciples of Christ heritage, not a public land-grant or technical institute.

Colleges include Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, the Argyros School of Business and Economics, Fowler School of Law, Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, Attallah College of Educational Studies, and the College of Performing Arts. Dodge College’s production facilities and the Irvine labs for physician assistant, physical therapy, and pharmacy programs are the graduate sites that matter most.

Enrollment is about 10,000 students, with a few thousand in graduate and professional programs and a modest international share. Faculty number in the several hundreds. Alumni are concentrated in film and television, Orange County business, and the health professions.

Graduate study includes MFA and related film degrees, the JD, MBA and specialized master’s degrees, and clinical doctorates on the Irvine campus. Law and health programs are coursework- and clinic-heavy; film degrees are production-based under faculty supervision. The calendar is a semester system. Students split time between a suburban Orange campus and Irvine’s medical corridor, with Los Angeles studios within commuting distance.

In the Grad School Navigator directory, Chapman University lists 5 graduate programs across 3 subjects: 3 master's programs and 2 doctoral programs, with the widest choice in film & filmmaking and physics.