If you plan on majoring in drama & theater arts, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #59 in the country in terms of popularity. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.
College Factual looked at 304 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 17,039 degrees in drama & theater arts to qualified students.
The theater program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Drama & Theater Arts rankings. We derive our Best Overall Drama & Theater Arts 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.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools list, to help you choose the best school for you.
You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
Best Schools for Drama & Theater Arts in the United States
The schools below may not offer all types of theater degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
It is difficult to beat New York University if you wish to pursue a degree in drama & theater arts. Located in the city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #16 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means NYU is a great university overall.
There were about 542 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at NYU in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the drama & theater arts major at New York University earn $2,890 more than the standard graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
Any student who is interested in drama & theater arts has to take a look at Northwestern University. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Evanston. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.
There were approximately 118 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the theater program earn an average of $19,515 for their early career.
It is hard to beat University of Southern California if you want to pursue a degree in drama & theater arts. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #13 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.
There were roughly 175 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the theater program earn an average of $21,548 in their early career salary.
Every student who is interested in drama & theater arts needs to take a look at Carnegie Mellon University. Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #8 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Carnegie Mellon is a great university overall.
There were approximately 72 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at Carnegie Mellon in the most recent year we have data available. Drama & Theater Arts degree recipients from Carnegie Mellon University get an earnings boost of approximately $10,788 above the typical earnings of drama & theater arts majors.
Boston U is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Boston. A Best Colleges rank of #23 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Boston U is a great university overall.
There were approximately 76 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at Boston U 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 $21,508.
Located in the large city of Boston, Emerson is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population. This college ranks 16th 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 data year. Students who receive their degree from the theater program earn an average of $19,560 for their early career.
Located in the city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #15 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Columbia is a great university overall.
There were roughly 81 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, theater degree recipients usually earn an average of $20,935 in the first five years of their career.
Located in the large suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #29 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Notre Dame is a great university overall.
There were about 68 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at Notre Dame in the most recent year we have data available. Those drama & theater arts students who get their degree from University of Notre Dame earn $15,352 more than the typical theater grad.
American Musical and Dramatic Academy is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.
There were approximately 752 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at American Musical and Dramatic Academy 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 earnings of $17,387.
U-M is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor. A Best Colleges rank of #22 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.
There were approximately 61 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at U-M 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 $17,577.
Chapman is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Orange. This university ranks 24th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were roughly 114 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at Chapman in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the drama & theater arts major at Chapman University make $2,465 above the standard graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
American Academy of Dramatic Arts - New York is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.
There were approximately 99 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at American Academy of Dramatic Arts - New York in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, theater degree recipients usually earn about $12,456 at the beginning of their careers.
Located in the city of Chicago, Columbia is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population. This college ranks 9th out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were about 145 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, theater degree recipients usually make about $17,929 at the beginning of their careers.
American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Los Angeles.
There were roughly 106 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles in the most recent year we have data available. After graduation, theater degree recipients usually earn around $12,456 at the beginning of their careers.
Purchase College is a small public college located in the large suburb of Purchase. This college ranks 53rd out of 136 colleges for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were about 149 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at Purchase College in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, theater degree recipients generally make an average of $18,090 in their early careers.
Iowa is a fairly large public university located in the city of Iowa City. This university ranks 1st out of 37 colleges for overall quality in the state of Iowa.
There were about 51 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at Iowa 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 earnings of $22,225.
Syracuse is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Syracuse. This university ranks 5th out of 136 schools for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were about 61 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at Syracuse in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the theater program earn around $20,988 for their early career.
SCAD is a fairly large private not-for-profit college located in the midsize city of Savannah.
There were roughly 233 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at SCAD in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the theater program earn around $22,671 in the first couple years of their career.
Located in the large city of Austin, UT Austin is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 115 colleges for overall quality in the state of Texas.
There were about 88 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at UT Austin in the most recent data year. Those drama & theater arts students who get their degree from The University of Texas at Austin earn $15,037 more than the average theater student.
Located in the midsize city of Providence, Brown is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #26 out of 2,152 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 data year.
Located in the city of Philadelphia, Temple is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 8th out of 103 schools for overall quality in the state of Pennsylvania.
There were roughly 81 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at Temple in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, theater degree recipients generally earn an average of $19,269 in the first five years of their career.
Located in the city of Chicago, DePaul is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 7th out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were approximately 111 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at DePaul in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, theater degree recipients typically make about $22,970 at the beginning of their careers.
Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #28 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.
There were approximately 94 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the theater program earn an average of $19,673 in the first couple years of working.
Located in the medium-sized city of Tallahassee, Florida State is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 70 colleges for overall quality in the state of Florida.
There were about 75 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at Florida State 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 $23,015.
Ithaca is a small private not-for-profit college located in the small suburb of Ithaca. This college ranks 23rd out of 136 colleges for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were about 65 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at Ithaca in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the theater program make an average of $18,243 for their early career.
This list shows the remainder of the schools awarded a Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools badge.
Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 20% of the 304 different United States drama & theater arts schools we analyzed.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
Credit for the banner image above goes to Donald Judge.
The theater program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Drama & Theater Arts rankings. We derive our Best Overall Drama & Theater Arts School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
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