Deocampo completed his basic education at West Visayas State University and finished salutatorian at Iloilo High School in 1976.

[citation needed] He graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in Theater Arts at the University of the Philippines (UP) in 1981.

[1] Under a Fulbright Scholarship Grant, Deocampo earned his Master of Arts degree in Cinema Studies at New York University in 1989.

[1][3] He was also a French government scholar and received his Certificate in Film at the Atelier du Formacion Au Cinema in 1989.

[1] He has also held several academic positions and received several awards including:[1] He was named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines in 1992.