2025 Best Drama & Theater Arts Master's Degree Schools
a master's degree in
drama & theater arts is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #83 out of 343 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 53 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for drama & theater arts students pursuing a master's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,670 master's degrees in drama & theater arts during the 2021-2022 academic year.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Drama & Theater Arts School for Your Master's Degree
Your choice of drama & theater arts for getting your master's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we consider a school's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a combination of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Average Earnings
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
- Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to drama & theater arts students as compared to other majors.
- Major Demand - How many other drama & theater arts students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
- Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
- Student Debt - How easy is it for drama & theater arts to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
- Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized drama & theater arts related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for drama & theater arts students working on their master's degree.
More Ways to Rank Drama & Theater Arts Schools
The theater school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Drama & Theater Arts Master's Degree Schools.
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Drama & Theater Arts in the United States
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in drama & theater arts. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
10 Top Schools for a Master's in Theater
New York University is a great decision for students interested in a master's degree in drama & theater arts. NYU is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York.
Master's recipients from the drama & theater arts program at New York University make $12,859 more than the average graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
More information about a master’s in drama & theater arts from New York University
University of Southern California is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in drama & theater arts. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
After graduation, theater master's recipients typically make an average of $21,764 in the first five years of their career.
More information about a master’s in drama & theater arts from University of Southern California
Every student who is interested in a master's degree in drama & theater arts needs to take a look at Carnegie Mellon University. Carnegie Mellon is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Pittsburgh.
Students who graduate with their master's from the theater program report average early career income of $21,814.
More information about a master’s in drama & theater arts from Carnegie Mellon University
Northwestern University is a great choice for students pursuing a master's degree in drama & theater arts. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.
Students who graduate with their master's from the theater program report average early career wages of $25,804.
More information about a master’s in drama & theater arts from Northwestern University
Located in the large city of Boston, Boston U is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in drama & theater arts from Boston University
.jpg){kind=link}