All the colleges and universities on this list are located in the Eastern United States and offer fantastic performing arts programs—and you can connect with them all quickly and easily! Just click the “Connect me” button underneath each featured school if you’re interested in learning more—then they'll reach out to you with more info. The perfect performing arts school for you could be right here, even if you haven’t heard its name before.
Albright College
Albright College is a church-affiliated liberal arts college on a 118-acre campus located at the edge of a residential section of Reading, Pennsylvania—45 miles from Philadelphia. Albright’s campus features digital CADD technology, recording and artistic studios, and a variety of musical, dance, and theatrical groups. Students can also showcase their work through the College’s art galleries, record label, and radio station.
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music is a prestigious music institution with an urban campus in Boston, Massachusetts. The College offers 12 undergraduate majors and teaches nine principal instruments. All students begin undeclared, giving you a full year to hone your craft and explore who you want to be before choosing your major.
Castleton University
Castleton University is a public coeducational university with a 165-acre campus in Castleton, Vermont. The University’s Art, Music, and Theater Arts Departments produce many plays, musicals, concerts, and exhibitions each year. Castleton also hosts some of the world’s finest artists and speakers and collaborates with outside partners such as Rutland’s Paramount Theatre.
Catawba College
Catawba College is a church-affiliated liberal arts college on a 276-acre campus in Salisbury, North Carolina—within 50 minutes of Charlotte. The School of Performing Arts offers majors in Music with multiple concentrations, including Music Business, Popular Music, and Worship Arts. Other majors include Musical Theatre, Theatre Arts (with multiple concentrations), Theatre Arts Administration, and Theatre Arts Education.
The Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America is the national university of the Catholic Church, located on a 184-acre campus just north of Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The Benjamin T. Rome School of Music, Drama, and Art has produced two Oscar, seven Tony Award, and two Pulitzer Prize winners. The School is home to a broad range of performing arts programs, including Acting, Drama, Composition, Music, Orchestral Instruments, and more.
Dean College
Dean College is a private, co-ed, residential college with a 100-acre campus in Franklin, Massachusetts—only 30 miles from Boston and Providence. Dean offers baccalaureate and associate degrees through four academic schools, including the School of Arts and the School of Dance. Majors include Dance (BFA and BA), Arts & Entertainment Management, Theatre (with multiple concentrations), Acting, and Musical Theatre.
Emerson College
Emerson College is a private coeducational institution located in Boston, Massachusetts. Emerson’s Department of Performing Arts' undergraduate and graduate programs encompass a core liberal arts curriculum, promote civic engagement, and demand that students create with clarity, integrity, and conviction. Students work with active theatre professionals who have deep connections to the performing arts community in Boston and beyond.
Kean University
Kean University is a public university with a 240-acre campus in Union, New Jersey—just 12 miles from New York City. Kean offers 50+ undergraduate degrees and 70+ graduate program options, including those offered in the School of Fine and Performing Arts. You can reach New York City directly from campus via a 30-minute train ride, but Premiere Stages—one of seven theatres on campus—also offers world-class music, dance, and theatrical performances.
Marymount Manhattan College
Marymount Manhattan College in New York City is a private liberal arts college with a one-acre campus in midtown Manhattan. The College offers several different majors and minors related to Performing Arts and Media Arts, including Acting; Cinema, Television & Emerging Media; Dance; Musical Theatre; and Theatre Arts. The campus is just a few steps or subway stops away from Broadway, the Museum Mile, and many major TV networks.
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New York University
New York University is one of the largest private universities in the country, located in the heart of Greenwich Village in New York City, New York—with additional degree-granting campuses in Shanghai and Abu Dhabi. Students can earn a BA, BFA, MA, MFA, MPS or PhD in a wide range of disciplines, including Dance, Drama, Performance Studies, Cinema Studies, and more. Admission to the Tisch School of the Arts is highly selective, with applicants evaluated through a two-part admission process that includes an artistic review.
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Pace University
Pace University is a private comprehensive university with a three-acre urban campus in New York City and a 200-acre suburban campus 20 miles away in Pleasantville-Briarcliff, New York. The Dyson College of Arts & Sciences offers majors such as Acting for Film, Television, Voice-Overs, and Commercials as well as Musical Theater, Production & Design for Stage and Screen, and Stage Management.
Rowan University
Rowan University is a Carnegie-classified public research institution located in suburban Southern New Jersey in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, with campuses in Glassboro, Camdon, and Stratford. The College of Performing Arts features world-class faculty who guide students in developing their skills as performers, educators, producers, directors, designers, collaborators, and entrepreneurs. Programs include Dance, Jazz, Music Education, Music Industry, and more.
Sacred Heart University
Sacred Heart University is a private coeducational institution with a 350-acre campus in Fairfield, Connecticut. The Department of Media and Theatre Arts offers a major in Media Arts with concentrations in Film & Television, Journalism, and Performing Arts, as well as a Theatre Art major with concentrations in Acting and Musical Theatre. Students can also showcase their talents with band and orchestra, choral, dance, and theatre arts groups.
Interested in earning a performing arts degree somewhere else in the country? Check out all our featured Performing Arts School Profiles.
