Acting

Types of Degrees Acting Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many acting graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	1,072
Associate Degree	401
Master’s Degree	174
Undergraduate Certificate	121
Basic Certificate	23

What Acting Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, acting majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Acting Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in acting should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.

Skills for Acting Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to acting:

• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Time Management - Managing one’s own time and the time of others.

Abilities for Acting Majors

Acting majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Memorization - The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.

What Can You Do With a Acting Major?

People with a acting degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Actors	11.6%	NA

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Acting?

This major is dominated by women with about 60% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of acting majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	32
Black or African American	128
Hispanic or Latino	139
White	612
International Students	72
Other Races/Ethnicities	89

Geographic Diversity

Acting appeals to people across the globe. About 6.7% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Acting

Some careers associated with acting require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

Find out what the typical degree level is for acting careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	45.4%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	16.2%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	3.8%
Bachelor’s Degree	20.7%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	13.9%

Online Acting Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	5	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	3	0
Associate’s Degree	13	0
Bachelor’s Degree	3	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	23	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Acting

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to acting.

Major	Number of Grads
Theater Arts	10,917
Musical Theater	1,247
Theater Design & Technology	1,139
Playwriting & Screenwriting	851
Other Dramatic/Theatre Arts & Stagecraft	465
Directing & Theatrical Production	220
Theatre and Dance	111
Comedy Writing and Performance	44
Theatre Literature, History & Criticism	37
Costume Design	31

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Donald Judge under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.