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 2023 rankings named University of Notre Dame the best school in the United States for drama and theater arts students. Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large 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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Out of the 498 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Duke University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Durham.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Lafayette College. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools list. Located in the suburb of Easton, Lafayette is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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Out of the 498 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, The Graduate Center, CUNY landed the # 4 spot on the list. The Graduate Center is a moderately-sized public school located in the large city of New York.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend College of the Holy Cross. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools 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 came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools ranking. Dartmouth is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the 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 large 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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With a ranking of #8, California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo did quite well on this year’s best schools for drama and theater arts students. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a very large public school located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo.
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With a ranking of #9, Emory University did quite well on this year’s best schools for drama and theater arts students. Emory is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Atlanta.
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Brandeis University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best drama and theater arts programs. Brandeis is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Waltham.
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Winona State University ranked #11 on this year’s Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools list. Winona State is a medium-sized public school located in the distant town of Winona.
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University of California - Berkeley did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for drama and theater arts students. It came in at #12 on the list. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public school located in the 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 landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best drama and theater arts programs. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the small 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 landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best drama and theater arts programs. Located in the city of Blacksburg, Virginia Tech is a public college with a fairly large student population.
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Carnegie Mellon University ranked #15 on this year’s Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools list. Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
The average amount in student loans that theater majors at Carnegie Mellon take out is $25,943.
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With a ranking of #16, American Musical and Dramatic Academy did quite well on this year’s best schools for drama and theater arts students. 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 did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for drama and theater arts students. It came in at #17 on the list. Located in the city of New York, New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts is a private for-profit school with a fairly 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 landed the #18 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best drama and theater arts programs. Located in the medium-sized city of Des Moines, Drake is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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With a ranking of #19, The Juilliard School did quite well on this year’s best schools for drama and theater arts students. Juilliard is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the large 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 did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for drama and theater arts students. It came in at #21 on the list. Luther is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Decorah.
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North Dakota State University - Main Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for drama and theater arts students. It came in at #22 on the list. Located in the city of Fargo, North Dakota State University is a public school with a fairly large student population.
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With a ranking of #23, University of Wisconsin - Madison did quite well on this year’s best schools for drama and theater arts students. UW - Madison is a fairly 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 came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools ranking. 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 shows 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 |
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| 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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