Acting Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Acting — headline outcomes are in the stats below. About 1,161 bachelor's completions in IPEDS 2023; median in-state published tuition is about $8,586.
Key Statistics
Acting: what the data shows
Common questions about acting degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a acting degree?
A Acting program is classified under NCES CIP 50.0506 in the Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft field family (50.05).
A program that prepares individuals to communicate dramatic information, ideas, moods, and feelings through the achievement of naturalistic and believable behavior in imaginary circumstances. Includes instruction in voice and acting speech, stage dialects, movement, improvisation, acting styles, theatre history, script interpretation, and actor coaching
IPEDS counted 1,161 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
Types of acting degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 50.05 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- Comedy Writing and Performance (CIP 50.0511)
- Costume Design (CIP 50.0510)
- Directing and Theatrical Production (CIP 50.0507)
- Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General (CIP 50.0501)
- Musical Theatre (CIP 50.0509)
- Playwriting and Screenwriting (CIP 50.0504)
- Technical Theatre/Theatre Design and Technology (CIP 50.0502)
- Theatre Literature, History and Criticism (CIP 50.0505)
- Theatre and Dance (CIP 50.0512)
How long does it take to get a acting degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 50.0506 in our file:
- 382 Associate (22.6% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 1,161 Bachelor's (68.5% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 151 Master's (8.9% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
Is a acting degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft bachelor's program family: median debt $51,525, median earnings $39,775 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 2.48.
About 3.6% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $8,586 and median net price is $17,354.
We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.
Institutions
Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Acting and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$8,586 Median In-State Public
$42,432 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Acting majors are, on average, $8,586 for in-state public colleges, and $42,432 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Acting programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
100,000 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Acting from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Acting.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Canyon University | AZ | 73,371 |
| 2 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
| 3 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
| 4 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
| 5 | Texas A&M University-College Station | TX | 59,615 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Acting programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Haskell Indian Nations University | KS | $600 |
| 2 | Antelope Valley Community College District | CA | $1,124 |
| 3 | Yuba College | CA | $1,128 |
| 4 | Lake Tahoe Community College | CA | $1,131 |
| 5 | El Camino Community College District | CA | $1,144 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Acting programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canada College | CA | $32 |
| 2 | College of the Sequoias | CA | $480 |
| 3 | Henry Ford College | MI | $660 |
| 4 | Chipola College | FL | $1,133 |
| 5 | College of the Mainland | TX | $1,342 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Acting programs.
Graduation Rates
Graduation rate data is not available for this degree program.
Graduation/completion rates for Acting programs across institutions.
Where students complete this major (IPEDS)
Bachelor's-level completions (IPEDS Completions, award level 5) summed by institution state. State is taken from IPEDS Directory (HD2023) for each reporting institution.
Geographic concentration
The largest number of reported bachelor's completions for Acting is in NY (239 completions). That state represents about 20.6% of U.S. bachelor's completions reported for this CIP in the IPEDS file we use.
Among states, the highest concentration relative to all bachelor's degrees awarded in-state is IL (0.10% of that state's bachelor's completions).
Top states by count of bachelor's completions for this CIP (IPEDS).
| State | Bachelor's completions (this CIP) | % of U.S. total (this CIP) | % of state's all bachelor's |
|---|---|---|---|
| NY | 239 | 20.6% | 0.09% |
| CA | 238 | 20.5% | 0.05% |
| IL | 135 | 11.6% | 0.10% |
| PA | 92 | 7.9% | 0.05% |
| OH | 79 | 6.8% | 0.06% |
| TX | 56 | 4.8% | 0.02% |
| MA | 53 | 4.6% | 0.04% |
| TN | 38 | 3.3% | 0.05% |
| OK | 24 | 2.1% | 0.06% |
| VA | 24 | 2.1% | 0.02% |
| MO | 23 | 2.0% | 0.03% |
| MD | 18 | 1.6% | 0.02% |
| MI | 17 | 1.5% | 0.01% |
| FL | 15 | 1.3% | 0.01% |
| CT | 14 | 1.2% | 0.03% |
| IA | 14 | 1.2% | 0.03% |
| IN | 14 | 1.2% | 0.01% |
| NJ | 14 | 1.2% | 0.02% |
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 50.05 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- Comedy Writing and Performance CIP 50.0511
- Costume Design CIP 50.0510
- Directing and Theatrical Production CIP 50.0507
- Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General CIP 50.0501
- Musical Theatre CIP 50.0509
- Playwriting and Screenwriting CIP 50.0504
- Technical Theatre/Theatre Design and Technology CIP 50.0502
- Theatre Literature, History and Criticism CIP 50.0505
- Theatre and Dance CIP 50.0512
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 50.0506 in the survey year used in our extract (1,694 total across levels below).
- 382 Associate (22.6% of IPEDS total)
- 1,161 Bachelor's (68.5% of IPEDS total)
- 151 Master's (8.9% of IPEDS total)
Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.
Program outcomes (College Scorecard)
National medians across bachelor's programs in the Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft CIP family (58 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Acting graduate.
- $51,525 median federal loan debt among completers
- $39,775 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 2.48 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 3.6% of graduates not working and not enrolled one year out (program cohort)
Source: College Scorecard program-level outcomes aggregated by 4-digit CIP family.
Employment
Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.
Yearly Income for Common Jobs
$N/A Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Acting majors is $N/A.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Acting majors.
Occupations by Share
N/A 2023 Workforce
The number of Acting graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Acting by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Acting in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Acting.
Age distribution for Acting degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
1,161 Total Degrees Awarded
451 Male (38.85%)
710 Female (61.15%)
Gender distribution of Acting degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
701 White (60.38%)
157 Hispanic or Latino (13.52%)
118 Black or African American (10.16%)
57 Two or More Races (4.91%)
20 Asian (1.72%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Acting degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Acting are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Acting.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Acting field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Acting majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Acting majors.
Skills Bar Chart
This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.
Skill importance ratings for Acting majors.
About
A program that prepares individuals to communicate dramatic information, ideas, moods, and feelings through the achievement of naturalistic and believable behavior in imaginary circumstances. Includes instruction in voice and acting speech, stage dialects, movement, improvisation, acting styles, theatre history, script interpretation, and actor coaching
In 2023, 100,000 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Acting.
CIP Code
50.0506 - Acting
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $51,525 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $39,775, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 2.48. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Acting graduate.
Women earned 59.9% of 1,859 Acting completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $8,586 in-state at public colleges and $42,432 at private institutions for programs in this field.
Data Sources
This page uses data from the following sources:
- College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
- Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
- Employment and wage data by occupation
- Latest data: May 2024
- Source: bls.gov/oes
- O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
- Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
- Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
- Source: onetcenter.org
- IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
- Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
- Data years: 2015-2024
- Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
- Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
- Demographic and workforce data
- Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
- Source: census.gov/acs
Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.
Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.
Methodology
Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.
All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.