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2024 Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools in the New England Region

37 Colleges in the New England Region
1,025 Theater Degrees Awarded
$25,365 Avg Early-Career Salary
A degree in drama & theater arts is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #59 out of 395 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

College Factual looked at 37 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools in the New England Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,025 degrees in drama & theater arts during the 2021-2022 academic year.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Drama & Theater Arts School

Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools in the New England Region Your choice of drama & theater arts school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for drama & theater arts schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Drama & Theater Arts Rankings by Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Theater
Bachelor's Degrees in Theater
Master's Degrees in Theater
Doctor's Degrees in Theater

The theater school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools in the New England Region. More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Read more about College Factual's methodology.

Best Schools for Drama & Theater Arts in the New England Region

Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the theater degree levels they offer.

10 Top New England Region Schools in Theater

1
Yale crest
Yale University
New Haven, CT
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
58 Theater Degrees Awarded
70.7% Growth in Graduates

It is hard to beat Yale University if you want to pursue a degree in drama & theater arts. Yale is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New Haven. A Best Colleges rank of #8 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Yale is a great university overall.

There were approximately 58 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at Yale in the most recent year we have data available. Those drama & theater arts students who get their degree from Yale University earn $7,915 more than the average theater student.

More information about a degree in drama & theater arts from Yale University

2
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
76 Theater Degrees Awarded
$25,859 Median Starting Salary

It is difficult to beat Boston University if you wish to pursue a degree in drama & theater arts. Located in the city of Boston, Boston U is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #54 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Boston U is a great university overall.

There were roughly 76 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at Boston U in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, theater degree recipients generally make an average of $25,859 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a degree in drama & theater arts from Boston University

3
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
33 Theater Degrees Awarded
$31,019 Median Starting Salary

University of Connecticut is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in drama & theater arts. UCONN is a fairly large public university located in the large suburb of Storrs. A Best Colleges rank of #86 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCONN is a great university overall.

There were about 33 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at UCONN in the most recent data year. Drama & Theater Arts degree recipients from University of Connecticut receive an earnings boost of approximately $5,654 over the average earnings of drama & theater arts majors.

More information about a degree in drama & theater arts from University of Connecticut

4
Brown crest
Brown University
Providence, RI

It's hard to beat Brown University if you want to pursue a degree in drama & theater arts. Brown is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Providence. A Best Colleges rank of #21 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Brown is a great university overall.

There were roughly 25 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at Brown in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the theater program state that they receive average early career income of $22,550.

More information about a degree in drama & theater arts from Brown University

4
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In NH

Any student pursuing a degree in drama & theater arts needs to check out Dartmouth College. Located in the remote town of Hanover, Dartmouth is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #25 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Dartmouth is a great college overall.

There were roughly 3 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at Dartmouth in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in drama & theater arts from Dartmouth College

5
Emerson crest
Emerson College
Boston, MA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
146 Theater Degrees Awarded
2.1% Growth in Graduates

Emerson is a medium-sized private not-for-profit college located in the large city of Boston. This college ranks 17th out of 63 colleges for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.

There were approximately 146 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at Emerson in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the theater program report average early career income of $22,766.

More information about a degree in drama & theater arts from Emerson College

6
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
9th Most Popular In MA

Brandeis is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Waltham. A Best Colleges rank of #99 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Brandeis is a great university overall.

There were approximately 6 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at Brandeis in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in drama & theater arts from Brandeis University

7
Tufts crest
Tufts University
Medford, MA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
9th Most Popular In MA

Located in the suburb of Medford, Tufts is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #40 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Tufts is a great university overall.

There were about 9 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at Tufts in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in drama & theater arts from Tufts University

8

UMass Amherst is a very large public university located in the large suburb of Amherst. A Best Colleges rank of #81 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UMass Amherst is a great university overall.

There were approximately 26 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at UMass Amherst in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the theater program earn about $25,695 for their early career.

More information about a degree in drama & theater arts from University of Massachusetts Amherst

9
Boston College crest
Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
$27,539 Median Starting Salary

Located in the small city of Chestnut Hill, Boston College is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #60 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Boston College is a great college overall.

There were approximately 9 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at Boston College in the most recent data year. Drama & Theater Arts degree recipients from Boston College earn a boost of about $2,174 above the average income of drama & theater arts graduates.

More information about a degree in drama & theater arts from Boston College

Best Drama & Theater Arts Colleges by State

Explore the best drama & theater arts schools for a specific state in the New England Region .

StateCollegesDegrees Awarded
Massachusetts301569
Connecticut241182
New Hampshire21049
Maine20236
Rhode Island20082
Vermont19452

View All Rankings >

One of 10 majors within the Visual & Performing Arts area of study, Drama & Theater Arts has other similar majors worth exploring.

Theater Focus Areas

MajorAnnual Graduates
Theater Arts612
Acting122
Theater Design & Technology94
Musical Theater94
Directing & Theatrical Production39
Other Dramatic/Theatre Arts & Stagecraft27
Playwriting & Screenwriting23
Theatre Literature, History & Criticism8
Theatre and Dance4
Costume Design2

View All Theater Concentrations >

Related MajorAnnual Graduates
Music2,243
Fine & Studio Arts2,098
Design & Applied Arts2,097
Film, Video & Photographic Arts1,444
Arts & Media Management408
General Visual & Performing Arts352
Dance142
Other Visual Art69
Crafts, Folk Art & Artisanry9
Community/Environmental/Socially-Engaged Art4

View All Theater Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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