The best acting schools in the world are very subjective. Whether you want to be an actor or a politician depends on how you like your coffee in the morning.
Acting schools allow students to study the performing arts with seasoned instructors and other young actors as they prepare for a future in the industry. In addition to learning the skills necessary to become successful performers, students at these acting schools will also have the chance to meet and network with others who share their passion for the performing arts.
Choosing the best acting school in the world can be a daunting task. So we’ve compiled our list of the We’ve acting schools based on numerous reviews and detailed personal analysis so that you can be confident that you’re choosing the best acting school available.
If you are looking for a school that offers both performance opportunities and an academic curriculum, you should consider enrolling in a conservatory program. These programs offer you the chance to study acting alongside other disciplines like dance and music, giving you a well-rounded education.
You can also get involved with local theater companies in order to gain experience and make contacts within the industry before graduation. If you prefer an environment where all your studies are focused solely on acting techniques and practice, then a private drama school might be more suitable for your needs.
These schools often have smaller class sizes than conservatories, so they tend to be more intimate learning environments where students receive personal attention from their instructors. With that said, here are the USA’s top drama and acting schools.
1. Yale School of Drama
The Yale School of Drama is the drama school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. It is also one of the best acting schools in the world. The school offers a Master of Fine Arts degree in theatre, which covers performance and production practices across historical periods and cultural contexts. It also offers a Ph.D. in theatre history and criticism.
The school also offers a two-year Certificate Program for students who wish to study acting, directing, or playwriting. Yale also offers undergraduate and graduate degrees, as well as summer programs. In addition, students attending the school can work with faculty members who are internationally recognized artists, writers, and scholars.
The Yale David Geffen School of Drama has been around since 1924 and was previously known as the Yale School of Drama. The program received a $150 million grant from the David Geffen Foundation, which might be related to the move. David Geffen, who taught a course at Yale in the late 1970s, remarked, “I believed Yale was the appropriate location to begin to transform the way we think about paying arts education.”
As a result, the exclusive graduate acting program that helped create Meryl Streep in 1975 and Frances McDormand in 1982, among many other acting icons, is now entirely free — for the select few (15–17 students each year) who are admitted. And that merits praise.
Founded: 1924
Acceptance rate: 5.4%
Tuition:$34,800
2. The Juilliard School
The Juilliard School is a performing arts conservatory based in New York City. It was founded in 1905 by the dancer Isadora Duncan and the pianist William Schuman. The school offers training in dance, drama, and music.
The school’s alums have included many notable performers, such as Che Diaz, Viola Davis, Robin Williams, and Patti LuPone. As a result, the Juilliard School has been referred to as one of the world’s most prestigious performing arts schools.
In addition to its main campus in New York City, Juilliard operates a branch campus in Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in Midtown Manhattan and another branch campus at 54th Street and Broadway in Midtown Manhattan that houses its drama programs. It also maintains two smaller centers: one at 25th Street and Broadway (known as “Juilliard West”) and another at 115 West 57th Street (“Juilliard Uptown”), which used to be a school for children with special needs.
Founded: 1905
Acceptance rate: 7.6%
Tuition:$49,260
3. University of North Carolina School of the Arts
When you think of the best acting schools in the world, one of the first names that come to mind is likely UNCSA.
The University of North Carolina School of the Arts is one of the country’s most prestigious and well-regarded institutions for arts education. So it has been since its inception in 1963. Drawing on a long tradition of academic excellence and high achievement, UNCSA continues to set new standards for excellence in the field of drama.
UNCSA offers some of the most intensive training, with courses designed to hone students’ skills across various disciplines. From acting to dance to musical theatre, students can expect rigorous training from world-class faculty members who are accomplished performers in their own right.
The school has an impressive list of alumni that includes such luminaries as Jada Pinkett Smith, Mary-Louise Parker, Hunter Schafer, James Earl Jones (Star Wars), Danny McBride, and many more.
Founded: 1963
Acceptance rate: 36.3%
Tuition:$25,901
4. London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art
The London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school based in London, United Kingdom. It is Britain’s oldest drama school and one of the world’s most prestigious acting schools. Henry Wylde founded it in 1861 to train young actors, directors, and stage managers in drama.
As well as its main campus in Camden Town, LAMDA has teaching venues across London, including the Barbican Centre (its main teaching venue), the Young Vic, Shakespeare’s Globe, and National Theatre. The academy also runs two professional theatres – King’s Head Theatre in Islington and Gate Theatre in Notting Hill – where students can get experience performing live onstage.
In 2010, LAMDA joined with the Central School of Speech and Drama to create a single unified institution called the Central School of Speech & Drama. The two schools continue to run separately but share some facilities and courses.
The academy is known for its high-quality teaching, attracting students from all over the world who wish to become professional actors or directors. Graduates include Laurence Olivier, Vanessa Redgrave, Anthony Hopkins, and Judi Dench, among others, who have won prestigious awards, including Oscars and BAFTAs.
Founded: 1861
Acceptance rate: 14%
Tuition:$29,177
5. NYU Tisch School of the Arts
The New York University Tisch School of the Arts is one of the world’s most prestigious and highly regarded acting schools. It’s a place where some of the greatest actors, directors, and producers have come from, including Mahershala Ali, Kristen Bell, Woody Allen, Whoopi Goldberg, and Anne Hathaway.
The school was founded in 1965 as part of New York University’s Steinhardt School for Culture and Education. Today it offers undergraduate degrees in drama and, film & television, as well as master’s degrees in acting, directing, writing for performance, and producing. The school is located on Greenwich Street in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood.
In 2011, Tisch became the first U.S.-based conservatory to offer an undergraduate degree in creative technology. The program offers students hands-on experience with video game development, animation, and filmmaking using advanced technologies like motion capture or virtual reality headsets.
Tisch students are encouraged to take risks while studying at NYU because there are no grades or tests — only evaluations by faculty members who watch their performances in class or during student productions such as “Spring Awakening” (a rock musical about teenagers dealing with puberty) or “Invisible Hand” (an original play about Wall Street).
Founded: 1965
Acceptance rate: 26%
Tuition:$49,962
6. Guildhall School of Music & Drama
The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a specialist college of the University of London and is one of the world’s leading drama schools.
The Guildhall School has two campuses in London, England – one in the Barbican Centre and one in Aldwych. The school has provided training for actors since 1880 and was established with the help of then-Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin.
The school offers a range of courses, including professional acting training at BA (Hons) level and below, vocational training at Certificate (C), Diploma (Dip), and Graduate Certificate (GCert) levels, and postgraduate degrees at MA (Masters), MFA (Graduate Diploma), MMus (Master of Music) and Ph.D. levels.
Founded: 1880
Acceptance rate: 10%
Tuition:$23,995
7. Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) is a drama school in London. It runs a three-year full-time undergraduate course and a one-year postgraduate course. The first year is shared with Kingston University. The second and third years are studying theatre at RADA.
RADA is a full member of The Association of Drama Schools, the leading professional membership body for drama schools in the UK and Ireland. RADA is an internationally recognized institution for stage and screen training, attracting some of the world’s leading young talent to its ranks each year. Its alums include luminaries such as Laurence Olivier, Kenneth Branagh, and Ralph Fiennes.
The school was founded in 1904 by Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who wanted to establish an institution where students could learn the art of acting on the stage rather than simply by reading plays or mimicking parts. The organization has since become one of the most prestigious drama schools in the world, with alums including Taron Egerton, Gemma Arterton, and Richard Attenborough, among others.
Founded: 1904
Acceptance rate: 18%
Tuition:$30,000
8. USC School of Dramatic Arts
The USC School of Dramatic Arts is a highly-ranked drama school that offers various undergraduate and graduate acting classes. The university’s acting program is one of the most respected in the world and has produced some of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
In addition to being one of the best acting schools in the United States, USC is one of the oldest and most prestigious film schools. Starting in 1945 as the USC Department of Drama, it changed its name to the USC School of Theatre in 1991 and became an autonomous institution. On July 1st, 2012, it was renamed the USC School of Dramatic Arts.
The curriculum at USC is designed to prepare students for careers in the entertainment industry. Students take courses such as Acting for Film & Television, Lighting Design for Film & Television, Directing for Film & Television, Cinematography for Film & Television, and Introduction to Musical Theater Performance. In addition, they learn how to write scripts and create films and stage plays on stage or on film sets.
The university consists of four distinct campuses: University Park Campus, Health Sciences Campus, Downtown Campus, and Health Sciences Campus Eastside (formerly known as Loma Linda University Medical Center). It is within walking distance from Union Station (Amtrak/Metrolink), Metro Red/Purple Line Station, and Chinatown Station (Metro Blue Line).
Founded: 1945
Acceptance rate: 25.6%
Tuition:$51,288
9. National Institute of Dramatic Art
The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is Australia’s leading drama school and one of the best acting schools in the world. It is ranked in the top five drama schools in the world by Quacquarelli Symonds, a British company that researches universities worldwide.
The first official theater training institution in Australia, NIDA, was established in 1958. The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust (AETT) developed the concept of a national theater training institution in 1954.
NIDA was founded on the University of New South Wales campus with the backing of Vice-Chancellor (later Sir) Philip Baxter. The first Director was selected to be Robert Quentin, who would subsequently become a drama professor at UNSW.
The school offers a two-year full-time or three-year part-time program designed to train actors for both screen and stage work. Students are taught how to develop their unique style and voice and interpret the text they are working on. The school boasts an international reputation for excellence, with many of its alums enjoying successful careers in film, theatre, and television.
NIDA has had many notable graduates, such as Hugh Sheridan, Cate Blanchett, Mel Gibson, Geoffrey Rush, Michelle Vergara Moore, and Ryan Corr.
Founded: 1958
Acceptance rate: 12%
Tuition:$31,020
10. Savannah College of Art and Design
Savannah College of Art and Design is a private, nonprofit, accredited institution with two main campuses. The main campus is in Savannah, Georgia, while the other is in Atlanta. The college has over 2,000 students enrolled at any given time. The school offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in arts and design.
The program requires 120 coursework plus 30 hours of internship work (which can be counted toward completion). The curriculum includes general education courses such as critical thinking, oral communication, written communication, and computer literacy; musical theater courses such as voice training; dance courses such as ballet techniques; theater courses such as directing techniques; acting courses such as scene study; technical courses such as lighting design techniques; and production courses such as stage management techniques.
The college is one of the best acting schools in the world because it offers students various courses and degrees that can help them develop their skills as actors or actresses. The school also partners with other programs around the country to offer students internships and job opportunities within various industries related to their degree programs.
Founded: 1978
Acceptance rate: 77.9%
Tuition:$38,075
Find the best acting schools in the world – To narrow down this list of the best acting schools, I compiled a master list of the top-rated drama and theatre schools. Then, factoring in fame, education quality, alums, and acting job placement statistics, I distilled it down to these ten schools listed above.
The above acting schools are all established on different continents and are availed with state-of-the-art amenities. But, it is essential to understand that the most important thing that an acting school offers is its instructors. And some of the above acting schools will offer various specializations like drama, filmmaking, crafts, etc. Thus, it is important to know exactly what you want to do in the future. Only then may you choose the right acting school for yourself.
