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Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools in California

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2023 Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools in California

23 Colleges
$24,344 Avg Salary
$18,964 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Drama & Theater Arts School for You

In 2020-2021, 351 degrees and certificates were awarded to drama and theater arts students who went to a California college or university. This makes it the #64 most popular major in the state.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 23 schools in California to see which ones offered the best programs for students.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools in California

The colleges and universities below are the best for theater majors pursuing a .

Top 10 Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools

Our 2023 rankings named University of California - Berkeley the best school in California for drama and theater arts students. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a very large student population.

Full Drama & Theater Arts at University of California - Berkeley Report

#2

National University

La Jolla, CA

The excellent programs at National University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best drama and theater arts schools in California. National University is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of La Jolla.

Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at National University

The excellent programs at University of California - Davis helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best drama and theater arts schools in California. Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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The excellent programs at University of California - Santa Barbara helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best drama and theater arts schools in California. Located in the suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Full Drama & Theater Arts at University of California - Santa Barbara Report

The excellent programs at University of California - San Diego helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best drama and theater arts schools in California. UCSD is a fairly large public school located in the large city of La Jolla.

Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at University of California - San Diego

#6

Mount Saint Mary's University

Los Angeles, CA

Mount Saint Mary’s University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best drama and theater arts programs. MSMU is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

Full Drama & Theater Arts at Mount Saint Mary’s University Report

University of Southern California did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for drama and theater arts students. It came in at #7 on the list. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

Full Drama & Theater Arts at University of Southern California Report

With a ranking of #8, University of California - Irvine did quite well on this year’s best schools for drama and theater arts students. Located in the city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public school with a very large student population.

Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at University of California - Irvine

Azusa Pacific University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best drama and theater arts programs. Located in the large suburb of Azusa, Azusa Pacific is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

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#10

Loyola Marymount University

Los Angeles, CA

Loyola Marymount University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best drama and theater arts programs. Loyola Marymount is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at Loyola Marymount University

Best Drama & Theater Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Drama & Theater Arts Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 20
Oregon 19
Nevada 9
Hawaii 13

Drama & Theater Arts is one of 9 different types of programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Music 7,675
Fine & Studio Arts 3,224
Design & Applied Arts 1,979
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 1,704
Arts & Media Management 1,184

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 23 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • 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).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Donald Judge.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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