2023 Best Value Drama & Theater Arts Schools in New York
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Drama & Theater Arts School for You
With 2,542 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, drama and theater arts is the #33 most popular major in New York.
When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.
The Best Value Drama & Theater Arts Schools in New York ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 52 schools in New York to see which programs offered the best value experiences for theater students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.
This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.
For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.
Top 10 Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools
Our analysis found LaGuardia Community College to be the best value school for drama and theater arts students who want to pursue a degree in New York. Located in the city of Long Island City, LaGuardia is a public college with a large student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at LaGuardia are $5,218 per year.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend The Graduate Center, CUNY. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Drama & Theater Arts Schools in New York list. Located in the city of New York, The Graduate Center is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
The Graduate Center undergraduate students pay an average of $7,410 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, The Graduate Center also did well on our Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools in New York list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend New York City College of Technology. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Drama & Theater Arts Schools in New York list. Located in the city of Brooklyn, City Tech is a public college with a large student population.
City Tech undergraduate students pay an average of $7,320 in in-state tuition and fees each year. While working on their degree, theater majors at City Tech accumulate an average of around $6,500 in student debt.
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The excellent programs at Finger Lakes Community College helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best drama and theater arts schools in New York. Finger Lakes Community College is a moderately-sized public school located in the rural area of Canandaigua.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Finger Lakes Community College are $5,722 per year.
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The excellent programs at SUNY Fredonia helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best drama and theater arts schools in New York. Located in the town of Fredonia, SUNY Fredonia is a public school with a small student population.
SUNY Fredonia undergraduate students pay an average of $8,760 in in-state tuition and fees each year. Theater majors at SUNY Fredonia take out an average of $27,000 in student loans while working on their egree.
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Lehman College landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value drama and theater arts programs. Located in the large city of Bronx, Lehman is a public college with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Lehman are $7,410 a year.
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SUNY Plattsburgh came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Drama & Theater Arts Schools in New York ranking. SUNY Plattsburgh is a small public school located in the town of Plattsburgh.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at SUNY Plattsburgh are $8,931 per year.
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Purchase College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for drama and theater arts students. It came in at #8 on the list. Purchase College is a small public school located in the suburb of Purchase.
Purchase College undergraduate students pay an average of $8,953 in in-state tuition and fees each year. On average, theater graduates from Purchase College take out $26,000 in student loans while working on their degree. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $584.
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The College at Brockport came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Drama & Theater Arts Schools in New York ranking. SUNY Brockport is a moderately-sized public school located in the fringe town of Brockport.
SUNY Brockport undergraduate students pay an average of $8,678 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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SUNY Oneonta did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for drama and theater arts students. It came in at #10 on the list. SUNY Oneonta is a medium-sized public school located in the remote town of Oneonta.
SUNY Oneonta undergraduate students pay an average of $8,786 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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Request InformationBest Value Drama & Theater Arts Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region
Explore all the Best Value Drama & Theater Arts Schools in the Middle Atlantic Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 754 |
| Maryland | 179 |
| New Jersey | 210 |
| District of Columbia | 67 |
More Drama & Theater Arts Rankings in New York
Majors Related to Theater
Drama & Theater Arts is one of 10 different types of programs to choose from.
Most Popular Majors Related 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.
- 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.
More about our data sources and methodologies.