2023 Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools
Finding the Best Drama & Theater Arts School for You
In 2020-2021, 17,341 people earned a degree or certificate in drama and theater arts, making the major the #60 most popular in the United States.
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.
The Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 498 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best programs for students.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools in the United States
The following schools top our list of the Best Drama & Theater Arts Colleges.
Top 25 Top Schools in Drama & Theater Arts
Our analysis found University of Notre Dame to be the best school for drama and theater arts students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Notre Dame.
The average amount in student loans that theater majors at Notre Dame take out is $20,250.
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The excellent programs at Duke University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best drama and theater arts schools in the United States. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Durham.
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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Lafayette College is a great place for drama and theater arts students. Located in the suburb of Easton, Lafayette is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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The excellent programs at The Graduate Center, CUNY helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best drama and theater arts schools in the United States. The Graduate Center is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of New York.
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Out of the 498 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, College of the Holy Cross landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the midsize city of Worcester, Holy Cross is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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Dartmouth College ranked #6 on this year’s Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools list. Dartmouth is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the remote town of Hanover.
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With a ranking of #7, KD Conservatory College of Film and Dramatic Arts did quite well on this year’s best schools for drama and theater arts students. KD Conservatory is a small private for-profit school located in the city of Dallas.
Theater majors at KD Conservatory take out an average of $19,062 in student loans while working on their egree. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $165.
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California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools ranking. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a very large public school located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo.
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Emory University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best drama and theater arts programs. Emory is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Atlanta.
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Brandeis University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for drama and theater arts students. It came in at #10 on the list. Brandeis is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Waltham.
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With a ranking of #11, Winona State University did quite well on this year’s best schools for drama and theater arts students. Winona State is a moderately-sized public school located in the distant town of Winona.
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University of California - Berkeley landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best drama and theater arts programs. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley.
On average, theater graduates from UC Berkeley take out $22,250 in student loans while working on their degree.
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Northwestern University ranked #13 on this year’s Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools list. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Evanston.
The average amount in student loans that theater majors at Northwestern take out is $16,333.
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Virginia Tech did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for drama and theater arts students. It came in at #14 on the list. Located in the city of Blacksburg, Virginia Tech is a public school with a fairly large student population.
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Carnegie Mellon University came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools ranking. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
The average amount in student loans that theater majors at Carnegie Mellon take out is $25,943.
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American Musical and Dramatic Academy did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for drama and theater arts students. It came in at #16 on the list. American Musical and Dramatic Academy is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.
Theater majors at American Musical and Dramatic Academy take out an average of $19,500 in student loans while working on their egree. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $938.
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New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts ranked #17 on this year’s Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools list. Located in the large city of New York, New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts is a private for-profit college with a small student population.
On average, theater graduates from New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts take out $12,000 in student loans while working on their degree. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $603.
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Drake University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for drama and theater arts students. It came in at #18 on the list. Located in the midsize city of Des Moines, Drake is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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The Juilliard School landed the #19 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best drama and theater arts programs. Juilliard is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.
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With a ranking of #20, Sacred Heart University did quite well on this year’s best schools for drama and theater arts students. Sacred Heart is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Fairfield.
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Luther College came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools ranking. Luther is a small private not-for-profit school located in the remote town of Decorah.
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North Dakota State University - Main Campus ranked #22 on this year’s Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools list. Located in the midsize city of Fargo, North Dakota State University is a public college with a fairly large student population.
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University of Wisconsin - Madison did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for drama and theater arts students. It came in at #23 on the list. UW - Madison is a very large public school located in the city of Madison.
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St Mary’s College of Maryland came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools ranking. SMCM is a small public school located in the suburb of St. Mary's City.
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Skidmore College landed the #25 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best drama and theater arts programs. Skidmore is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Saratoga Springs.
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Additional Award Winners
This section represents the rest of the schools awarded a Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 498 different United States drama and theater arts schools we analyzed.
Honorable Mentions
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools award.
Drama & Theater Arts by Region
View the Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
More Drama & Theater Arts Rankings
Rankings in Majors Related to Theater
One of 10 majors within the area of study, drama and theater arts has other similar majors worth exploring.
Majors Similar to Theater
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Fine & Studio Arts | 37,413 |
| Design & Applied Arts | 36,301 |
| Music | 25,910 |
| Film, Video & Photographic Arts | 16,778 |
| General Visual & Performing Arts | 6,355 |
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 Donald Judge.
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More about our data sources and methodologies.
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