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Best Value Drama & Theater Arts Undergraduate Certificate Schools

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2023 Best Value Drama & Theater Arts Undergraduate Certificate Schools

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

9 Colleges
$32,732 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$15,919 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Drama & Theater Arts Undergraduate Certificate 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Drama & Theater Arts Undergraduate Certificate Schools to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 9 schools in the United States to see which undergraduate certificate 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.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Drama & Theater Arts Undergraduate Certificate Schools in the United States

Check out the theater undergraduate certificate programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Best Schools for Affordable Quality for an Award Taking 1 to 4 Years in Drama & Theater Arts

Our analysis found Scottsdale Community College to be the best value school for drama and theater arts students who want to pursue a undergraduate certificate in the United States. Located in the rural area of Scottsdale, Scottsdale Community College is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Scottsdale Community College are $7,854 a year.

In addition to its great value ranking, Scottsdale Community College is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Drama & Theater Arts Undergraduate Certificate Schools list.

Full Drama & Theater Arts at Scottsdale Community College Report

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater is a great value for drama and theater arts students working on their undergraduate certificate. Located in the city of New York City, Neighborhood Playhouse School is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population.

Neighborhood Playhouse School undergraduate students pay an average of $17,400 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend American Musical and Dramatic Academy. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Drama & Theater Arts Undergraduate Certificate Schools list. American Musical and Dramatic Academy is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at American Musical and Dramatic Academy are $42,960 per year. The average amount in student loans that theater majors at American Musical and Dramatic Academy take out while working on their Undergraduate Certificate is $13,308. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $655, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.

Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at American Musical and Dramatic Academy

The excellent undergraduate certificate programs at University of Cincinnati - Main Campus helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value drama and theater arts schools in the United States. Located in the large city of Cincinnati, UC is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UC are $27,111 a year.

Full Drama & Theater Arts at University of Cincinnati - Main Campus Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Missouri Southern State University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Drama & Theater Arts Undergraduate Certificate Schools list. Missouri Southern is a small public school located in the small city of Joplin.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Missouri Southern are $15,896 a year.

Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at Missouri Southern State University

American Academy of Dramatic Arts - New York did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for drama and theater arts students to get a undergraduate certificate. It came in at #6 on the list. American Academy of Dramatic Arts - New York is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at American Academy of Dramatic Arts - New York are $37,230 a year.

Full Drama & Theater Arts at American Academy of Dramatic Arts - New York Report

With a ranking of #7, American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles did quite well on this year’s best value schools for drama and theater arts students working on their undergraduate certificate. American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles are $37,230 a year.

Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at American Academy of Dramatic Arts - Los Angeles

George Washington University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for drama and theater arts students to get a undergraduate certificate. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the city of Washington, GWU is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

GWU undergraduate students pay an average of $57,984 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at George Washington University

#9

New York Film Academy

Burbank, CA

With a ranking of #9, New York Film Academy did quite well on this year’s best value schools for drama and theater arts students working on their undergraduate certificate. New York Film Academy is a small private for-profit school located in the city of Burbank.

New York Film Academy undergraduate students pay an average of $34,090 in tuition and fees each year. After completing their Undergraduate Certificate, theater graduates from New York Film Academy carry an average student debtload of $13,429. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $408.

Full Drama & Theater Arts at New York Film Academy Report

Drama & Theater Arts by Region

View the Best Value Drama & Theater Arts Undergraduate Certificate Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

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 9 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.

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