2023 Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools
Finding the Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor's Degree 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.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 460 schools in the United States to see which bachelor's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the United States
Check out the theater bachelor's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.
Top 25 Top Schools for a Bachelor's 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 working on their bachelor’s degree. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Notre Dame.
While working on their Bachelor's Degree, theater majors at Notre Dame accumulate an average of around $18,253 in student debt.
Request Information
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Duke University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Durham.
Request Information
A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Lafayette College is a great place for drama and theater arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the suburb of Easton, Lafayette is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at Lafayette College
Request Information
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 #4 on this year’s Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the medium-sized city of Worcester, Holy Cross is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at College of the Holy Cross
Request Information
Out of the 460 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Dartmouth College landed the # 5 spot on the list. Dartmouth is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the remote town of Hanover.
Request Information
California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for drama and theater arts students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a very large public school located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo.
Request Information
With a ranking of #7, Emory University did quite well on this year’s best schools for drama and theater arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Emory is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Atlanta.
Request Information
Brandeis University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for drama and theater arts students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Brandeis is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Waltham.
Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at Brandeis University
Request Information
Northwestern University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Evanston.
Request Information
With a ranking of #10, Carnegie Mellon University did quite well on this year’s best schools for drama and theater arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
Request Information
Winona State University landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree drama and theater arts programs. Winona State is a moderately-sized public school located in the distant town of Winona.
Request Information
University of California - Berkeley came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the city of Berkeley.
While working on their Bachelor's Degree, theater majors at UC Berkeley accumulate an average of around $19,550 in student debt.
Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at University of California - Berkeley
Request Information
With a ranking of #13, Virginia Tech did quite well on this year’s best schools for drama and theater arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the city of Blacksburg, Virginia Tech is a public school with a very large student population.
While working on their Bachelor's Degree, theater majors at Virginia Tech accumulate an average of around $26,472 in student debt.
Full Drama & Theater Arts at Virginia Tech Report
Request Information
The Juilliard School did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for drama and theater arts students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #14 on the list. Juilliard is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.
Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at The Juilliard School
Request Information
Drake University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for drama and theater arts students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #15 on the list. Located in the city of Des Moines, Drake is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at Drake University
Request Information
University of Wisconsin - Madison ranked #16 on this year’s Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. UW - Madison is a very large public school located in the city of Madison.
Full Drama & Theater Arts at University of Wisconsin - Madison Report
Request Information
Sacred Heart University came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Sacred Heart is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Fairfield.
Request Information
The University of Texas at Austin did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for drama and theater arts students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #18 on the list. UT Austin is a fairly large public school located in the city of Austin.
Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at The University of Texas at Austin
Request Information
Luther College came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Luther is a small private not-for-profit school located in the remote town of Decorah.
Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at Luther College
Request Information
North Dakota State University - Main Campus came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the midsize city of Fargo, North Dakota State University is a public school with a fairly large student population.
Request Information
University of North Carolina School of the Arts came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. UNCSA is a small public school located in the city of Winston-Salem.
For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $553.
Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at University of North Carolina School of the Arts
Request Information
St Mary’s College of Maryland did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for drama and theater arts students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #22 on the list. SMCM is a small public school located in the small suburb of St. Mary's City.
Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at St Mary’s College of Maryland
Request Information
Skidmore College came in at #23 in this year’s edition of the Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Skidmore is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small suburb of Saratoga Springs.
Full Drama & Theater Arts at Skidmore College Report
Request Information
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for drama and theater arts students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #24 on the list. U-M is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor.
Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Request Information
Williams College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for drama and theater arts students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #25 on the list. Located in the fringe town of Williamstown, Williams is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at Williams College
Request InformationRest of the Top Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools
Additional Award Winners
This section shows the remainder of the schools awarded a Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 460 different United States drama and theater arts schools we analyzed.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 51 | University of Missouri - Columbia | Columbia, MO |
| 52 | University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point | Stevens Point, WI |
| 53 | Vanderbilt University | Nashville, TN |
| 54 | University of California - Davis | Davis, CA |
| 55 | University of Wisconsin - La Crosse | La Crosse, WI |
| 56 | Wellesley College | Wellesley, MA |
| 57 | Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania | Slippery Rock, PA |
| 58 | Harding University | Searcy, AR |
| 59 | Chapman University | Orange, CA |
| 60 | Messiah University | Mechanicsburg, PA |
| 61 | Towson University | Towson, MD |
| 62 | University of Nebraska - Lincoln | Lincoln, NE |
| 63 | Illinois State University | Normal, IL |
| 64 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Champaign, IL |
| 65 | New Jersey Institute of Technology | Newark, NJ |
| 66 | University of Nevada - Las Vegas | Las Vegas, NV |
| 67 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill, NC |
| 68 | University of Cincinnati - Main Campus | Cincinnati, OH |
| 69 | Hamline University | Saint Paul, MN |
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 Bachelor's Degree Schools award.
Drama & Theater Arts by Region
View the Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor's Degree 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.
.jpg){kind=link}
More about our data sources and methodologies.
Course Advisor provides higher-education, college and university, degree, program, career, salary, and other helpful information to students, faculty, institutions, and other internet audiences. Presented information and data are subject to change. Inclusion on this website does not imply or represent a direct relationship with the company, school, or brand. Information, though believed correct at time of publication, may not be correct, and no warranty is provided. Contact the schools to verify any information before relying on it. Financial aid may be available for those who qualify. The displayed options may include sponsored or recommended results, not necessarily based on your preferences.
© Course Advisor – All Rights Reserved.