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2024 Best Dance Schools in California

18 Colleges in California
538 Dance Degrees Awarded
$19,813 Avg Early-Career Salary
Dance isn't the most popular major in the world, but it's not the least popular either. To be more precise it ranks #158 in popularity out of 395 majors in the country. So, it might take a little more work to find colleges and universities that offer the degree program.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 18 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for dance students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 538 degrees in dance during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Dance School

Best Dance Schools in California The dance program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Dance rankings. We derive our Best Overall Dance School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Pick Your Dance Degree Level

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

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Dance Schools in California list, to help you choose the best school for you. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

Best Schools for Dance in California

If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the dance degrees they offer, see the list below.

10 Top California Schools in Dance

1
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
58 Dance Degrees Awarded
20.7% Growth in Graduates

University of California - Irvine is a good decision for students interested in a degree in dance. UC Irvine is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Irvine. A Best Colleges rank of #61 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UC Irvine is a great university overall.

There were approximately 58 dance students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent year we have data available. Those dance students who get their degree from University of California - Irvine make $2,371 more than the average dance grad.

More information about a degree in dance from University of California - Irvine

2
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
8th Most Popular In CA
23.8% Growth in Graduates

It's difficult to beat University of Southern California if you wish to pursue a degree in dance. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were about 21 dance students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in dance from University of Southern California

3
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
33 Dance Degrees Awarded
15.2% Growth in Graduates

It's difficult to beat University of California - Los Angeles if you want to pursue a degree in dance. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #26 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.

There were approximately 33 dance students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the dance program earn an average of $14,394 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a degree in dance from University of California - Los Angeles

4
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
$18,093 Median Starting Salary
$25,913 Median Student Debt

Every student who is interested in dance has to check out Chapman University. Chapman is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Orange. This university ranks 32nd out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 25 dance students who graduated with this degree at Chapman in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, dance degree recipients typically earn about $18,093 in their early careers.

More information about a degree in dance from Chapman University

5
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
57 Dance Degrees Awarded
29.8% Growth in Graduates

CSULB is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Long Beach. This university ranks 28th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 57 dance students who graduated with this degree at CSULB in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, dance degree recipients usually earn around $21,620 in their early careers.

More information about a degree in dance from California State University - Long Beach

6
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
11th Most Popular In CA
$22,125 Median Student Debt

Loyola Marymount is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #135 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Loyola Marymount is a great university overall.

There were approximately 13 dance students who graduated with this degree at Loyola Marymount in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in dance from Loyola Marymount University

7
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
29th Most Popular In CA

UC Berkeley is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley. A Best Colleges rank of #18 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were approximately 4 dance students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in dance from University of California - Berkeley

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In CA
50.0% Growth in Graduates

Located in the large city of Riverside, UCR is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 36th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 26 dance students who graduated with this degree at UCR in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in dance from University of California - Riverside

9
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
16th Most Popular In CA
12.5% Growth in Graduates

UCSD is a fairly large public university located in the city of La Jolla. A Best Colleges rank of #38 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCSD is a great university overall.

There were roughly 8 dance students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in dance from University of California - San Diego

10
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In CA
$22,769 Median Student Debt

Located in the large suburb of Fullerton, Cal State Fullerton is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 41st out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 23 dance students who graduated with this degree at Cal State Fullerton in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in dance from California State University - Fullerton

Best Dance Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Dance Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 300 53
Oregon 266 20
Nevada 192 30
Hawaii 164 4

View All Rankings >

Dance is one of 10 different types of Visual & Performing Arts programs to choose from.

Dance Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
General Dance 506
Other Dance 32

View All Dance Focus Areas >

Majors Similar to Dance

Related Major Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts 6,526
Design & Applied Arts 4,575
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 4,258
Music 3,612
Drama & Theater Arts 3,040
General Visual & Performing Arts 1,198
Arts & Media Management 315
Other Visual Art 83

View All Dance Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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