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 analysis found University of Notre Dame to be the best school for drama and theater arts students who want to pursue a bachelor’s degree in the United States. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the 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.
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The excellent bachelor’s degree 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 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 Lafayette College. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the suburb of Easton, Lafayette is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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A rank of #4 on this year’s list means College of the Holy Cross is a great place for drama and theater arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the medium-sized city of Worcester, Holy Cross is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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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 town of Hanover.
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California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a fairly large public school located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo.
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Emory University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Emory is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Atlanta.
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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 medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Waltham.
Full Drama & Theater Arts at Brandeis University Report
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Northwestern University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree drama and theater arts programs. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Evanston.
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Carnegie Mellon University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree drama and theater arts programs. Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
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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.
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University of California - Berkeley 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 #12 on the list. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the medium-sized 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.
Full Drama & Theater Arts at University of California - Berkeley Report
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Virginia Tech came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the city of Blacksburg, Virginia Tech is a public college 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.
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With a ranking of #14, The Juilliard School did quite well on this year’s best schools for drama and theater arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Juilliard is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.
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Drake University landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree drama and theater arts programs. Located in the city of Des Moines, Drake is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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University of Wisconsin - Madison came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. UW - Madison is a very large public school located in the city of Madison.
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With a ranking of #17, Sacred Heart University did quite well on this year’s best schools for drama and theater arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Sacred Heart is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Fairfield.
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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 very large public school located in the city of Austin.
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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.
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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 medium-sized 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 #21, University of North Carolina School of the Arts did quite well on this year’s best schools for drama and theater arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. UNCSA is a small public school located in the medium-sized city of Winston-Salem.
For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $553.
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St Mary’s College of Maryland came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. SMCM is a small public school located in the suburb of St. Mary's City.
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Skidmore 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 #23 on the list. Skidmore is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small suburb of Saratoga Springs.
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University of Michigan - Ann Arbor came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. U-M is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor.
Full Drama & Theater Arts at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Report
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With a ranking of #25, Williams College did quite well on this year’s best schools for drama and theater arts students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the town of Williamstown, Williams is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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Additional Award Winners
This list shows the remainder of the schools awarded a Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools badge. Showing in this list means the school 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.
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More about our data sources and methodologies.
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