2025 Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois
Drama & Theater Arts is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #38 most popular bachelor's degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
College Factual looked at 13 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 734 bachelor's degrees in drama & theater arts during the 2022-2023 academic year.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Drama & Theater Arts School for Your Bachelor's Degree
Your choice of drama & theater arts for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality theater program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
Overall Quality Is a Must
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Average Early-Career Salaries
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their bachelor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your bachelor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
- Major Focus - How much a school focuses on drama & theater arts students vs. other majors.
- Major Demand - How many other drama & theater arts students want to attend this school to pursue a bachelor's degree.
- Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
- Student Debt - How easy is it for drama & theater arts to pay back their student loans after receiving their bachelor'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 bachelor's degree.
One Size Does Not Fit All
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Drama & Theater Arts Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Drama & Theater Arts in Illinois
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in drama & theater arts.
10 Top Illinois Schools for a Bachelor's in Theater
It's difficult to beat Northwestern University if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in drama & theater arts. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Evanston.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the theater program report average early career income of $19,245.
More information about a bachelor’s in drama & theater arts from Northwestern University
Columbia College Chicago is a great choice for individuals interested in a bachelor's degree in drama & theater arts. Located in the city of Chicago, Columbia is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the theater program report average early career income of $17,929.
More information about a bachelor’s in drama & theater arts from Columbia College Chicago
DePaul University is a wonderful choice for individuals pursuing a bachelor's degree in drama & theater arts. Located in the city of Chicago, DePaul is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the theater program state that they receive average early career wages of $22,021.
More information about a bachelor’s in drama & theater arts from DePaul University
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in drama & theater arts. Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the theater program earn about $22,159 in their early career salary.
More information about a bachelor’s in drama & theater arts from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
UIC is a very large public university located in the city of Chicago.
Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the theater program make around $14,938 in the first couple years of their career.
More information about a bachelor’s in drama & theater arts from University of Illinois at Chicago