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2024 Best Acting Schools in the Great Lakes Region

16 Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
251 Acting Degrees Awarded
A degree in acting is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #323 out of 1506 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual reviewed 16 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of acting. Combined, these schools handed out 251 degrees in acting to qualified students.

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

Choosing a Great Acting School

Best Acting Schools in the Great Lakes Region The acting program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Acting rankings. For our Best Overall Acting School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.

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

Pick Your Acting Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Acting
Master's Degrees in Acting

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Acting Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision. 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 Acting in the Great Lakes Region

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 acting degrees they offer, see the list below.

10 Top Great Lakes Region Schools in Acting

1
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In OH
94.1% Growth in Graduates

University of Cincinnati - Main Campus is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in acting. UC is a very large public university located in the city of Cincinnati. A Best Colleges rank of #166 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UC is a great university overall.

There were approximately 17 acting students who graduated with this degree at UC in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in acting from University of Cincinnati - Main Campus

2
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In IN
28.6% Growth in Graduates

Purdue University - Main Campus is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in acting. Purdue is a very large public university located in the small city of West Lafayette. A Best Colleges rank of #40 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Purdue is a great university overall.

There were about 7 acting students who graduated with this degree at Purdue in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in acting from Purdue University - Main Campus

2
DePaul crest
DePaul University
Chicago, IL
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In IL
32 Acting Degrees Awarded

Any student pursuing a degree in acting needs to take a look at DePaul University. Located in the large city of Chicago, DePaul is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #203 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means DePaul is a great university overall.

There were about 32 acting students who graduated with this degree at DePaul in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in acting from DePaul University

3
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In IL
51 Acting Degrees Awarded

Columbia College Chicago is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in acting. Located in the large city of Chicago, Columbia is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #370 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Columbia is a great college overall.

There were about 51 acting students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in acting from Columbia College Chicago

4
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In IN
75.0% Growth in Graduates

Any student who is interested in acting needs to look into University of Evansville. Located in the medium-sized city of Evansville, UE is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 15th out of 42 schools for overall quality in the state of Indiana.

There were roughly 20 acting students who graduated with this degree at UE in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in acting from University of Evansville

5

Millikin is a small private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Decatur. This university ranks 28th out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.More information about a degree in acting from Millikin University

6
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In IL
10.0% Growth in Graduates

UIC is a very large public university located in the city of Chicago. A Best Colleges rank of #192 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UIC is a great university overall.

There were approximately 10 acting students who graduated with this degree at UIC in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in acting from University of Illinois at Chicago

7
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In IL
40.0% Growth in Graduates

Located in the city of Bloomington, Illinois Wesleyan is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 20th out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.

There were approximately 5 acting students who graduated with this degree at Illinois Wesleyan in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in acting from Illinois Wesleyan University

8
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In MI
28.6% Growth in Graduates

Located in the city of Kalamazoo, WMU is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #335 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means WMU is a great university overall.

There were approximately 14 acting students who graduated with this degree at WMU in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in acting from Western Michigan University

9
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In IL

Located in the large city of Chicago, Roosevelt is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 38th out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.

There were about 8 acting students who graduated with this degree at Roosevelt in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in acting from Roosevelt University

Best Acting Colleges by State

Explore the best acting schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Ohio 939 92
Michigan 915 20
Illinois 870 112
Indiana 737 27
Wisconsin 672 0

View All Rankings >

Acting is one of 11 different types of Drama & Theater Arts programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Theater Arts 1,485
Musical Theater 207
Theater Design & Technology 196
Directing & Theatrical Production 57
Playwriting & Screenwriting 55
Comedy Writing and Performance 42
Other Dramatic/Theatre Arts & Stagecraft 35
Theatre and Dance 22
Theatre Literature, History & Criticism 12
Costume Design 2

View All Acting Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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