American Film Institute Admissions: Requirements, Application Deadlines & Fees

Known as one of the most popular film schools in the USA, the American Film Institute is ranked at #1 in the world by The Hollywood Reporter. International students choose AFI for deep Hollywood connections, great support for global film career and focus on innovation along with practical skills.

For international students it is not easy to get into AFI Conservatory as its acceptance rate is only 25%. It means that out of every 100 applicants only 25 got selected to be a part of this institute.

To get in, applicants should meet the AFI eligibility criteria like having a UG degree, strong English proficiency exams like IELTS, TOEFL 100 or Duo lingo (130) with minimum scores, letters of recommendation, writing samples or portfolios. International students need to show creative potential.

International students can choose from 6 courses at postgraduate levels. The American Film Institute tuition fee for the MFA courses is INR 61.4L.

American Film Institute Admission Highlights 2026

The application for the American Film Institute courses can be made directly via the official portal of the university. It also uses the GradCAS system for applying. Also, international students need to pay the American Film Institute application fee of USD 110 (INR 9.9 K) for MFA courses.

Look at the admission highlights of KU in the table given below -

(USD 1 = INR 90.12)

There is just one main intake per year for the AFI Conservatory MFA programs for the Fall semester,basically. The courses like Cinematography, Producing, Screenwriting, Editing and Production Design have admissions open for the same and their original deadlines were extended. International students are required to have all the documents ready for the application.

American Film Institute Admission Deadlines 2026

This institute has just one course named MFA and the extended deadline for the same is Jan 5, 2026 for international students. These students can also apply for the AFI Conservatory scholarships. In general, the Fall semester starts around late August or Early September. The deadline month are November to January.

Look at the table given below to know about the American Film Institute admission deadlines for PG courses:

If you want to go for the American Film Institute admissions in the year 2026 as an international student, then you should follow the AFI application process.

Check out the admission process given below -

• Firstly, the international applicants should go through all the important admission requirements and also check their eligibility for the chosen program.
• Then, the students need to gather all the required documents and upload all of them onto the portal. Given below is the admission checklist. Take a look -

• Now, to submit the application, you should pay the AFI admission fee of USD 110 (INR 9.9K) for submission.
• At the end of the American Film Institute application process, all that is left is to wait for application decision from the university which will be released on Mar 16, 2026.

(USD 1 = INR 90.12)

It is an extremely difficult task to get into the American Film Institute as its acceptance rate is only 25% for the 2028 class, as per an unofficial source. The class size remains 144 students per class in general. The students can expect a lot of competition and they are required to meet all of the admission requirements if they want in.

Look at the table given below for AFI enrolment stats –