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2024 Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools in District of Columbia

3 Colleges in District of Columbia
85 Theater Degrees Awarded
$25,923 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.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 3 schools in District of Columbia to determine which ones were the best for drama & theater arts students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 85 degrees in drama & theater arts during the 2020-2021 academic year.

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

Choosing a Great Drama & Theater Arts School

Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools in District of Columbia 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. 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.

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

Pick Your Drama & Theater Arts Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Theater
Master's Degrees in Theater

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 in District of Columbia list, to help you choose the best school for you. 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 District of Columbia

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.

Top District of Columbia Schools in Theater

1

George Washington University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in drama & theater arts. GWU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Washington. A Best Colleges rank of #49 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means GWU is a great university overall.

There were roughly 28 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at GWU in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, theater degree recipients usually make around $25,991 in the first five years of their career.

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

2
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In DC

Catholic University of America is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in drama & theater arts. Located in the large city of Washington, CUA is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 5th out of 8 schools for overall quality in the state of District of Columbia.

There were roughly 16 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at CUA in the most recent year we have data available.

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

3
The American University crest
American University
Washington, DC
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
$25,854 Median Starting Salary
$26,393 Median Student Debt

American University is a great option for students pursuing a degree in drama & theater arts. The American University is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Washington. This university ranks 3rd out of 8 colleges for overall quality in the state of District of Columbia.

There were about 14 drama & theater arts students who graduated with this degree at The American University 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 wages of $25,854.

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

Best Drama & Theater Arts Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

Explore all the Best Drama & Theater Arts Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Pennsylvania 334 754
New York 333 2,536
Maryland 279 179
New Jersey 273 210

View All Rankings >

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

Theater Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Theater Arts 40
Acting 18
Other Dramatic/Theatre Arts & Stagecraft 17
Musical Theater 7
Directing & Theatrical Production 3

View All Theater Focus Areas >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts 146
Music 117
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 89
Design & Applied Arts 84
Arts & Media Management 57
General Visual & Performing Arts 16
Dance 14

View All Theater Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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