<p>I can only speak for Emerson. I’m a B.F.A Stage/Production Management major at Emerson College.</p>
<p>There is the B.F.A. Stage/Production Management degree which is more rigorous than the B.A. Theatre Studies, emphasis in Production and Stage Management. With a B.F.A. at Emerson, you are guaranteed stage management assignments at EmStage shows (the bigger shows at Emerson where you work with directors from the faculty [who also still work in the industry] or guest directors from theatre companies). You get a lot of hands-on experience. It is your decision if you want to work on student shows as a stage manager. It’s a lot of time spent in the theater.</p>
<p>The B.A. at Emerson is a little less rigorous because you are not guaranteed these shows. You have to work a little harder and talk to the department head if you want these spots. It also depends how many B.F.A. Stage/Production Management majors are there because they may need more people to fill up the empty spots so B.F.A.s don’t have to double up on assignments. You can still do student shows, but you may not have the opportunity to work with the directors EmStage shows provide.</p>
<p>With a B.F.A. at Emerson, you CANNOT double major. With a B.A., you can. A lot of your classes will be theatre classes, but most of the learning will be the shows you are involved in.</p>
<p>If you want to explore other parts of theatre, it is possible with a B.F.A. I know someone who is a B.F.A. and sound designed an EmStage show.</p>
<p>Both degrees dabble in arts administration/management classes, but more of your time is going to be spent on stage management with a B.F.A. Ones with B.A. degrees have more room to dabble in arts administration and other areas of theatre. During your time at Emerson, you can contact another theatre faculty member, who is probably going to be your arts management professor, to get arts management positions on EmStage shows. The person who teaches arts management classes is apparently fantastic. She spoke in one of my stage management classes, and I think she is pretty amazing. I haven’t taken her classes yet but will next year. At Emerson, it is really how you use the opportunities given to you. There are many opportunities to study arts management at Emerson, but you have to be the one to be always taking action.</p>
<p>I’m curious at what statistics you were looking at. Emerson College does have a strong alumni network that helps out a lot for future graduates, but it is also known for having majors that do not guarantee a job right after college. Going into theatre in any college, I think, doesn’t guarantee a job right after college. That is the risk I took when going to Emerson. Emerson is the type of college that gives you the opportunities, but it is your job to use these opportunities to your advantage.</p>
<p>Overall, you can only learn stage management and theatre in general through experience, and Emerson College provides that for me. I think, for me, B.F.A. is a better degree to get if you really want to stage manage most of the time. B.A. is a little iffy and doesn’t really give as many opportunities as easily as a B.F.A. would. Those opportunities are there, but you need to really do some hard work.</p>
<p>At the end, it is also up to you (what type of experience do you want, etc)</p>
<p>Emerson College is pretty expensive. I’m not going to lie. There is one way to cut costs which is applying for the Honors Program to get half tuition off each year. There are also scholarships and financial aid. Emerson is not that great with financial aid. (I didn’t get anything from them sadly, but my roommate got amazing financial aid from them. It depends on each situation.) But it will be expensive like Fordham and NYU.</p>
<p>PM if you have any questions about stage management/theatre program in general at Emerson or just about Emerson in general.</p>