Dance isn't the most popular major in the world, but it's not the least popular either. To be more precise it ranks #158 in popularity out of 395 majors in the country. So, it might take a little more work to find colleges and universities that offer the degree program.
College Factual looked at 97 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Dance Schools ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 3,301 degrees in dance to qualified students.
The dance program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Dance rankings. We derive our Best Overall Dance School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Dance Schools ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat.
Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the dance degrees they offer, see the list below. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
Any student who is interested in dance needs to look into New York University. Located in the city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #16 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means NYU is a great university overall.
There were about 74 dance students who graduated with this degree at NYU in the most recent year we have data available. Those dance students who get their degree from New York University make $12,874 more than the standard dance graduate.
It's hard to beat University of Michigan - Ann Arbor if you want to pursue a degree in dance. U-M is a very large public university located in the city of Ann Arbor. A Best Colleges rank of #22 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.
There were roughly 23 dance students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent year we have data available.
Any student who is interested in dance needs to take a look at University of Wisconsin - Madison. Located in the city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #40 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UW - Madison is a great university overall.
There were about 17 dance students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent year we have data available.
University of California - Riverside is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in dance. Located in the large city of Riverside, UCR is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 28th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 16 dance students who graduated with this degree at UCR in the most recent data year.
Located in the suburb of Dallas, SMU is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. This university ranks 5th out of 115 schools for overall quality in the state of Texas.
There were roughly 14 dance students who graduated with this degree at SMU in the most recent data year.
UC Irvine is a very large public university located in the city of Irvine. This university ranks 12th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 55 dance students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the dance program at University of California - Irvine make $4,430 above the standard college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Located in the city of Philadelphia, Temple is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 8th out of 103 schools for overall quality in the state of Pennsylvania.
There were about 22 dance students who graduated with this degree at Temple in the most recent year we have data available.
Ohio State is a very large public university located in the city of Columbus. A Best Colleges rank of #70 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Ohio State is a great university overall.
There were approximately 24 dance students who graduated with this degree at Ohio State in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the dance program report average early career earnings of $21,167.
Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #28 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.
There were approximately 34 dance students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the dance program make an average of $19,787 for their early career.
USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #13 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means USC is a great university overall.
There were approximately 25 dance students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the dance program make around $25,653 in the first couple years of working.
Chapman is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Orange. This university ranks 24th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 45 dance students who graduated with this degree at Chapman in the most recent data year. After graduation, dance degree recipients generally make about $21,275 in their early careers.
Iowa is a very large public university located in the city of Iowa City. This university ranks 1st out of 37 colleges for overall quality in the state of Iowa.
There were about 19 dance students who graduated with this degree at Iowa in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the dance major at University of Iowa earn $6,671 more than the average graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
U of U is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Salt Lake City. This university ranks 2nd out of 11 schools for overall quality in the state of Utah.
There were approximately 48 dance students who graduated with this degree at U of U in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the dance program make an average of $24,125 for their early career.
UMCP is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of College Park. A Best Colleges rank of #37 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UMCP is a great university overall.
There were about 14 dance students who graduated with this degree at UMCP in the most recent data year.
MMC is a small private not-for-profit college located in the city of New York. This college ranks 35th out of 136 colleges for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were about 37 dance students who graduated with this degree at MMC in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the dance program make an average of $21,880 in their early career salary.
Located in the midsize city of Gainesville, UF is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #56 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UF is a great university overall.
There were approximately 30 dance students who graduated with this degree at UF in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the dance program earn about $16,639 in the first couple years of working.
Located in the small city of New London, Conn College is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population. This college ranks 6th out of 18 schools for overall quality in the state of Connecticut.
There were approximately 5 dance students who graduated with this degree at Conn College in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the city of Austin, UT Austin is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #46 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UT Austin is a great university overall.
There were roughly 21 dance students who graduated with this degree at UT Austin in the most recent data year.
Located in the large city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #44 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UW Seattle is a great university overall.
There were approximately 22 dance students who graduated with this degree at UW Seattle in the most recent data year.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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).
The dance program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Dance rankings. We derive our Best Overall Dance School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
