There are many fine film programs in the US that are not in California. The ones DougR mentioned are very difficult to get into, and are not necessarily all that much better than what can be found elsewhere, although they are the most well known.

My son goes to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. It has a very good film school that is very closely tied with the Sundance Film Festival. Another very good film school is at Emerson in Massachusettes. All of this being rather off the topic of your theater interests, but I just thought I should put that info out there for anyone else who is reading and who may be interested.