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Best Colleges for Drama & Theatre Arts

50 Drama & Theatre Arts programs ranked by real graduate earnings, debt, and completion — from the College Scorecard Field-of-Study data.

⚡Quick answer

For Drama & Theatre Arts, University of Notre Dame (Indiana) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $64,880. Rankings reflect earnings, debt, and completion — not reputation or cost — across 50 programs with published outcome data.

#	School	Credential	Median earnings	Median debt	Completers	Score
1	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	Bachelor's Degree	$64,880	$19,000	68	94.7
2	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$55,555	$15,012	28	91.4
3	University of California-Davis Davis, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$56,823	$13,000	21	91.2
4	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$49,316	$17,000	90	88.5
5	CUNY Graduate School and University Center New York, NY	Master's Degree	$77,516	—	26	86.3
6	Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$49,135	$20,000	134	85.5
7	Texas State University San Marcos, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$48,502	$19,500	149	85.3
8	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT	Bachelor's Degree	$49,802	$19,566	38	85.2
9	Chapman University Orange, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$51,611	$22,500	94	84.2
10	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Master's Degree	$59,013	—	21	83.6
11	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$49,323	$20,500	37	83.5
12	Texas A & M University-Commerce Commerce, TX	Master's Degree	$62,924	—	17	83.1
13	Southern Utah University Cedar City, UT	Bachelor's Degree	$48,419	$19,000	31	82.9
14	California State University-Sacramento Sacramento, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$47,676	$16,396	27	82.8
15	California State University-Northridge Northridge, CA	Master's Degree	$61,569	—	16	82.4
16	San Diego State University San Diego, CA	Master's Degree	$67,588	—	12	82.2
17	University of Cincinnati-Main Campus Cincinnati, OH	Bachelor's Degree	$54,000	$25,706	62	81.9
18	University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus Norman, OK	Bachelor's Degree	$47,587	$20,044	48	81.4
19	West Texas A & M University Canyon, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$47,175	$19,250	28	80.9
20	Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$55,622	—	17	80.7
21	University of North Carolina School of the Arts Winston Salem, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$48,664	$23,500	86	80.4
22	Ohio University-Main Campus Athens, OH	Master's Degree	$53,128	—	22	80.4
23	University of North Carolina School of the Arts Winston Salem, NC	Master's Degree	$56,064	—	15	80.1
24	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$45,225	$19,000	63	80.1
25	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	Master's Degree	$52,436	—	23	79.9
26	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	Bachelor's Degree	$45,888	$20,379	61	79.9
27	Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA	Master's Degree	$61,519	—	7	79.9
28	Pepperdine University Malibu, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$50,594	$19,500	7	79.5
29	Western Connecticut State University Danbury, CT	Bachelor's Degree	$50,955	$25,000	46	79.4
30	Brandeis University Waltham, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$58,676	—	6	79
31	Miami University-Oxford Oxford, OH	Bachelor's Degree	$54,215	—	14	79
32	Drake University Des Moines, IA	Bachelor's Degree	$54,950	—	11	78.6
33	The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL	Master's Degree	$57,026	—	7	78.5
34	University of Northern Colorado Greeley, CO	Master's Degree	$54,468	—	11	78.5
35	University of Idaho Moscow, ID	Master's Degree	$70,605	$41,000	33	78.4
36	North Central College Naperville, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$46,605	$19,500	23	78.4
37	University of Central Florida Orlando, FL	Master's Degree	$53,911	—	12	78.2
38	New York University New York, NY	Master's Degree	$58,054	$97,383	126	78.1
39	Binghamton University Vestal, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$47,945	$19,500	15	77.7
40	Regent University Virginia Beach, VA	Master's Degree	$58,972	$52,693	41	77.4
41	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$44,848	$17,940	30	77.2
42	University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$51,775	—	16	77.1
43	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$48,781	$25,711	72	76.9
44	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY	Master's Degree	$57,723	$131,963	68	76.6
45	Rhode Island College Providence, RI	Bachelor's Degree	$50,335	$24,034	18	76.6
46	University of Missouri-Kansas City Kansas City, MO	Master's Degree	$49,306	—	21	76.4
47	University of Houston Houston, TX	Master's Degree	$62,281	$27,581	22	76.4
48	Full Sail University Winter Park, FL	Bachelor's Degree	$44,878	$20,500	51	76.3
49	University of Nevada-Las Vegas Las Vegas, NV	Master's Degree	$53,150	—	6	76.2
50	California State University-Northridge Northridge, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$43,240	$15,201	53	76.1

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Hidden Gems for Drama & Theatre Arts

Lower-profile schools with a genuinely strong outcome score for Drama & Theatre Arts — the famous brand names and mega-flagships are deliberately filtered out.

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	CUNY Graduate School and University Center New York, NY Strong Drama & Theatre Arts outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$77,516	68%	86.3
2	Chapman University Orange, CA Strong Drama & Theatre Arts outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$51,611	65%	84.2
3	Texas A & M University-Commerce Commerce, TX Strong Drama & Theatre Arts outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$62,924	92%	83.1
4	Southern Utah University Cedar City, UT Strong Drama & Theatre Arts outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$48,419	82%	82.9
5	West Texas A & M University Canyon, TX Strong Drama & Theatre Arts outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$47,175	99%	80.9
6	Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA Strong Drama & Theatre Arts outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$55,622	93%	80.7
7	Pepperdine University Malibu, CA Strong Drama & Theatre Arts outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$50,594	63%	79.5
8	Western Connecticut State University Danbury, CT Strong Drama & Theatre Arts outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$50,955	87%	79.4
9	Miami University-Oxford Oxford, OH Strong Drama & Theatre Arts outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$54,215	75%	79
10	Drake University Des Moines, IA Strong Drama & Theatre Arts outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$54,950	64%	78.6
11	University of Northern Colorado Greeley, CO Strong Drama & Theatre Arts outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$54,468	86%	78.5
12	University of Idaho Moscow, ID Strong Drama & Theatre Arts outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$70,605	76%	78.4

Hidden Gems use the same College Scorecard outcome score, then drop the pool’s most-selective brands (bottom-quartile admit rate) and largest campuses (top-quartile enrollment). Schools that don’t report admit rate or enrollment are not dropped by that guard.

How we ranked this

Programs are scored 0–100 within the Drama & Theatre Arts field (CIP 50.05) using three College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (weighted 70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, inverted so lower debt scores higher), and completer count (10%, log-scaled). Each input is percentile-ranked against the other Drama & Theatre Arts programs, so the score is robust to outliers and comparable across schools. Programs with no published earnings are excluded — never given a fabricated number. This is the same engine that powers our interactive Major Rankings. Minimum 5 scorable programs required to publish.

Frequently asked questions

Which college has the best Drama & Theatre Arts program?+

By our outcome score, University of Notre Dame (Indiana) ranks #1 for Drama & Theatre Arts, with median graduate earnings of $64,880.

How are these Drama & Theatre Arts programs ranked?+

Each program gets a 0–100 outcome score from three real College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, lower is better), and completer count (10%). Programs are compared within the major so the score reflects the best schools for this field specifically.

Where does the earnings and debt data come from?+

The U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard Field-of-Study file, which publishes median earnings and median debt by institution and major (4-digit CIP). Figures are post-graduation medians; programs without published earnings are not scored and are omitted from this ranking.

Can I filter Drama & Theatre Arts programs by state or degree level?+

Yes. This page shows the national top programs; use the interactive Major Rankings tool to filter the same data by state, and by credential level (bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral).

Keep exploring

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Data sources: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (Field of Study) · IPEDS Completions. Figures are the most recent values published in each federal dataset; cells with no published value are shown as “—” and never estimated. CertiHomes Education does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.