2024 Best Colleges for Theatre Design and Technology

SUMMARY

Majoring in Theatre Design and Technology is a valuable choice and usually a mandatory first step for undergraduates trying to begin a career as a lighting designer, a costume designer, or a technical director. Interestingly, theatre design and technology is a ​unique degree ranking as the 258th most popular major. Last year, there were 592 theatre design and technology diplomas received. In-state tuition for theatre design and technology at private universities is, on average, 4 times more spendy than their public rivals.

With just 94 universities having programs for theatre design and technology you could have a more finite list of the institutions that will have an option for you. If you're hoping to immerse yourself with other theatre design and technology undergraduates, consider universities in New York which have more undergraduates admitted to theatre design and technology than any other state. More generally, the best region to major in theatre design and technology is in the Great Lakes region with Columbia College Chicago, DePaul University, and University of Cincinnati-Main Campus best representing the region. Interestingly, our selection for the best conference to major in theatre design and technology is the City University of New York Athletic Conference with CUNY New York City College of Technology representing the conference. That being said, our choice for the best school for theatre design and technology is University of Southern California. You might also want to check out our list of best colleges.

The best school might not actually be the best school for you. There might be lots more factors to weigh when selecting institution. Things such as campus amenities, transportation services, and food would definitely change one's feelings of where to go to university. Here at Authority, we weighed the pros and cons for you. If, as an example, you want to know which theatre design and technology school is home to the best campus, the answer is Boston University. If, for example, you are primarily interested in which university boasts the finest campus, then we have a whole list dedicated to that. We have carefully pored through government databases, professor reviews, student reviews, and more in order to compare each major in an unbiased and informative way. Here you can explore our well researched list for the universities with the best student life&nbspand, from that list, our selection of the university with the best student life for theatre design and technology is University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Curious why? Continue scrolling to learn more about Authority's top choices. Many of our decisions will probably surprise you.

If expense is a primary factor in your decision on where to go to school, you might consider avoiding University of Southern California. University of Southern California&nbspis the most expensive university for theatre design and technology, at least regarding out of state attendance. We do have an entire list of the most expensive&nbspcolleges that could put the cost of University of Southern California&nbspinto perspective. You may also be interested to know that theatre design and technology is the 175th most expensive program in the nation, with an average cost of $32,000. To zoom out a little, the most costly state for theatre design and technology in the nation is California with expenses at the main three colleges California Institute of the Arts of $50,850, Pepperdine University of $55,640, and at University of Southern California of $55,640. Even more broadly, the most expensive region for theatre design and technology is the New England region which is best demonstrated with University of Connecticut with a cost of $36,466, Boston University with a cost of $54,720, and Emerson College with a cost of $48,280.

Our cheapest region for theatre design and technology is the Rocky Mountains region which is represented by Dixie State University with a cost of $14,976. More optimistically, the most affordable college for theatre design and technology is SUNY at Purchase College. Our entire list of the most affordable universities can be explored here.

In-state students can expect to pay about $10,800 for a degree in theatre design and technology. That cost grows significantly to an average of $26,100 for an out-of-state public-school student. On that note, our choice for the school with the best value for theatre design and technology: University of Southern California. On this page you can see our comprehensive list for the schools we believe to be the best value&nbspoverall. That being said, this idea is predicated on out-of-state tuition costs. A discussion of value changes when in-state tuition is considered, but we do not know where you live (and are not trying to collect that kind of data).

Earnings for theatre design and technology majors differ a lot, but within two years graduation graduates will typically earn around $48,900. While there can be a lot of variation in earnings potential; highest paid earners can rake in up to $102,100. Straight out of school, the lowest earning positions within the theatre design and technology field earn $24,000, which isn't that bad. The top earning grads for theatre design and technology graduated from University of Southern California&nbspand if you are looking for universities with all of the highest earning graduates, we have that too.

The all-around diversity of theatre design and technology is near the bottom, ranking in only the 24th percentile of all programs. The college with the most composite diversity for theatre design and technology is Boston University&nbspand here you can find our general list for the universities which have the most diversity. The overall financial diversity of Theatre Design and Technology ranks only within the 56th percentile compared to all other majors. Racial diversity is even less in the 21st percentile. White collegians make up the largest share, 75%, of those majoring in theatre design and technology. Additionally, 66% of undergrads seeking a theatre design and technology degree are women.

The median rating for theatre design and technology professors is 4 stars, a rating which is right on the median across all majors; this is a fine. If you are looking for the most popular theatre design and technology instructor nationally, consider looking up Brenda Wentworth at Saint Cloud State University. It may come as a shock, but the top rated theatre design and technology professors according to students are at Humboldt State University. As we incorporate data beyond just rankings we find that the college possessing the overall best instructors for theatre design and technology is Boston University. One will find more detail on our ever evolving ranking methodology for the best overall professors here, along with many of the finest examples of professors nationwide.

Finally, the most difficult university to get into for theatre design and technology is University of Southern California. While we do not necessarily see the value in it, we have a detailed page for the hardest colleges to get into. Although, we do hope you believe that approaching the higher education world through a lens only formed from superlatives could be said to be the root of many of higher education's fundamental issues. We at Authority hope you look at some of our more nuanced pages on individual schools and explore some of our helpful background articles on essential details to consider as you continue your university search.