2023 Best Dance Schools
Finding the Best Dance School for You
Dance is the #161 most popular major in the country with 3,288 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.
Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.
Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Dance Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 196 schools in the United States to see which programs offered the best educational experiences for students.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Dance Schools in the United States
The following schools top our list of the Best Dance Colleges.
Top 25 Top Schools in Dance
Our analysis found Duke University to be the best school for dance students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Duke is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Durham.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Emory University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Dance Schools list. Emory is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Atlanta.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northwestern University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Dance Schools list. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Evanston.
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Out of the 196 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, The Juilliard School landed the # 4 spot on the list. Juilliard is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.
After completing their degree, dance graduates from Juilliard carry an average student debtload of $27,000.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Luther College. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Dance Schools list. Luther is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Decorah.
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University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for dance students. It came in at #6 on the list. UW - Eau Claire is a large public school located in the small city of Eau Claire.
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University of Wisconsin - Madison did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for dance students. It came in at #7 on the list. UW - Madison is a fairly large public school located in the city of Madison.
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Texas State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for dance students. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the small city of San Marcos, Texas State is a public school with a fairly large student population.
Dance majors at Texas State take out an average of $22,417 in student loans while working on their egree. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $184, based on a 10-year repayment plan.
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University of Georgia came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Dance Schools ranking. Located in the medium-sized city of Athens, UGA is a public school with a fairly large student population.
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University of California - Berkeley did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for dance students. It came in at #10 on the list. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Berkeley.
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Skidmore College landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best dance programs. Skidmore is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small suburb of Saratoga Springs.
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With a ranking of #12, Columbia University in the City of New York did quite well on this year’s best schools for dance students. Located in the city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.
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Southern Methodist University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Dance Schools ranking. SMU is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Dallas.
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Muhlenberg College came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Dance Schools ranking. Located in the city of Allentown, Muhlenberg is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
On average, dance graduates from Muhlenberg take out $27,000 in student loans while working on their degree.
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With a ranking of #15, New York University did quite well on this year’s best schools for dance students. NYU is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.
After completing their degree, dance graduates from NYU carry an average student debtload of $19,500. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $1,101, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
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The Ailey School ranked #16 on this year’s Best Dance Schools list. Located in the large city of New York, The Ailey School is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.
Dance majors at The Ailey School take out an average of $19,500 in student loans while working on their egree.
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University of Washington - Seattle Campus ranked #17 on this year’s Best Dance Schools list. Located in the city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public college with a fairly large student population.
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University of Southern California landed the #18 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best dance programs. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.
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With a ranking of #19, Goucher College did quite well on this year’s best schools for dance students. Goucher is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Baltimore.
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Texas Tech University came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Dance Schools ranking. Texas Tech is a very large public school located in the city of Lubbock.
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University of Iowa came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Dance Schools ranking. Located in the small city of Iowa City, Iowa is a public school with a fairly large student population.
After completing their degree, dance graduates from Iowa carry an average student debtload of $26,068.
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University of Michigan - Ann Arbor landed the #22 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best dance programs. U-M is a very large public school located in the city of Ann Arbor.
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With a ranking of #23, Messiah University did quite well on this year’s best schools for dance students. Messiah is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Mechanicsburg.
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With a ranking of #24, Washington University in St Louis did quite well on this year’s best schools for dance students. Located in the large suburb of Saint Louis, WUSTL is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
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University of South Carolina - Columbia came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Best Dance Schools ranking. Located in the medium-sized city of Columbia, UofSC is a public college with a fairly large student population.
After completing their degree, dance graduates from UofSC carry an average student debtload of $26,000.
Full Dance at University of South Carolina - Columbia Report
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Honorable Mentions
Here are some additional great schools for Dance students that almost earned our Best Dance Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | Loyola Marymount University | Los Angeles, CA |
| 31 | University of Florida | Gainesville, FL |
| 32 | University of Minnesota - Twin Cities | Minneapolis, MN |
| 33 | Arizona State University - Tempe | Tempe, AZ |
| 34 | University of Nebraska - Lincoln | Lincoln, NE |
| 35 | San Jose State University | San Jose, CA |
| 36 | Minnesota State University - Mankato | Mankato, MN |
| 37 | University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point | Stevens Point, WI |
| 38 | Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania | Slippery Rock, PA |
| 39 | University of California - Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara, CA |
Dance by Region
View the Best Dance Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
More Dance Rankings
Dance Related Rankings by Major
Dance is one of 10 different types of programs to choose from.
Majors Similar to Dance
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Fine & Studio Arts | 37,413 |
| Design & Applied Arts | 36,301 |
| Music | 25,910 |
| Drama & Theater Arts | 17,341 |
| Film, Video & Photographic Arts | 16,778 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- 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 Jazzart Dance Theatre.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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