Amid a changing arts environment, drama schools are continuing to evolve to meet the moment. That means adding more courses on how actors can create their own work (i.e., generate employment opportunities), how to prepare for the realities of AI as well as building into curriculums’ increased industry outreach to give students as many inroads to a career as possible.
While the training remains stellar, students choosing schools also are increasingly considering the cost of an education and how much debt they’ll be carrying coming out of it, particularly with the ups and downs of an acting career.
THR spoke with educators and industry insiders to determine their ranking of the best schools for an acting degree, while weighing overall training, cost, facilities, alumni success, industry connections and more. Please note: Tuition is listed on an annualized basis for the upcoming year and does not include housing and other fees.
Juilliard
Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain, Adam Driver, Danielle Brooks, Oscar Isaac and many more stars have trained at this prestigious institution in the heart of New York City. Juilliard accepts 18 acting students a year, roughly split between MFA and BFA students, with attendees from both programs learning together across the four-year program. Dean Evan Yionoulis is ending her eight-year tenure at the school, with an interim leadership team, led by former provost Ara Guzelimian and artistic adviser Laura Linney taking over as the search for a new dean begins. Linney, an alum with deep ties to the program, tells students to expect a continuation of the strong teaching that has been a mainstay, including helping students identify their place in the world as artists. “They are as prepared as they can possibly be for whatever they face once they leave,” says Linney. The school combines its conservatory-style training with bespoke opportunities, including commissioning alumni to write short films for graduating students, workshopping Broadway-bound musicals and meeting with experts in motion capture, voiceover and more. Juilliard’s MFA program went tuition-free in 2024 and is making progress in also seeing its bachelor’s program become tuition-free. Just this past year, grads landed series-regular positions: Petro Ninovskyi on Ponies, Taylor Dunbar on Stumble and Laëtitia Hollard on The Pitt. Undergrad tuition is $57,200.
