There are enough schools offering master's degrees in the performing arts to fill every page of this magazine — about 17,000 students get an MFA degree a year. Of course, a lot of those diplomas aren't worth the parchment they're printed on, much less the average $38,000 annual tuition. Still, a degree from one of a select group of institutions — in the U.S. and abroad — can give graduates a solid foundation for a career, or at least a decent shot at being taken seriously by casting agents. To find those schools and rank them in their proper order, THR talked to deans, teachers and other insiders and triangulated their input with reporting from the magazine's own staff. The results are below.
Written by Seth Abramovitch, Ashley Cullins, Mia Galuppo, Scott Johnson, Borys Kit, Andy Lewis, Kendal McAlpin, Brian Porreca, Bryn Elise Sandberg and Tatiana Siegel
