The Yale School of Drama is one of the highest rated acting programs in the country. The department educates students in speech, voice and textual analysis. In addition to offering undergraduate and graduate programs in acting, it has its own repertory theater and cabaret company. Founded in 1924, the drama school counts the actors Frances McDormand, Tony Shalhoub and Liev Schreiber among its many famous alumni.
Yale School of Drama
PO. Box 208325,
New Haven, CT 06520-8325
203-432-1234
drama.yale.edu
The University of California San Diego's acting program, housed in its school of Theatre & Dance, is considered one of the country's finest. Founded in 1974, the school has a partnership with the local La Jolla Playhouse, in which all graduate students served at least one professional residency. Past faculty members include Robert Egan, Richard Foreman, Andrei Serban and Robert Woodruff.
UCSD Department of Theatre and Dance
9500 Gilman Drive MC0344
La Jolla, CA 92093
858-534-3791
theatre.ucsd.edu
The drama division at Juilliard offers either a four-year training program for acting that culminates in a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, if the student chooses to take liberals arts classes, or to a diploma. Founded in 1904, admission to the drama school is intensely competitive, with only 20 freshmen accepted each year. The school was founded in 1968 by John Houseman and Michel Saint-Denis.
The Juilliard School
60 Lincoln Center Plaza
New York, NY 10023-6588
212-799-5000
juilliard.edu
Intensely competitive, the graduate acting program accepts only 18 actors out of over 900 applicants. Classes run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. They focus on voice, speech, text and movement.
NYU Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Acting
721 Broadway, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10003
212-998-1960
gradacting.tisch.nyu.edu
Headed by Israel Hicks and housed in the Mason Gross School of the Arts, the Rutgers acting program is considered to be one of the best in the country. The school offers undergraduate and graduate programs in acting that focus on developing the "total actor." Graduate students commit to a three-year, full-time residency. In addition to the usual acting courses, students take classes in stage combat, physical theater, theatrical makeup and dialects.
Mason Gross School of the Arts
33 Livingston Avenue
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1959
732-932-9360
mgsa.rutgers.edu
Located at Pace University, this school has been made famous by the television show "Inside The Actor's Studio," which is hosted by James Lipton. Founded in 1947 by Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford, Robert Lewis and Anna Sokolow--and later run by Elia Kazan--the program focuses on the "Method" form of acting pioneered by the Russian actor Constantin Stanislavski. The program offers a three-year graduate program that culminates in an MFA.
Pace University
1 Pace Plaza
New York, NY 10038
866-722-3338
pace.edu