List of colleges ranked by graduates going into theater, music or other artistic careers?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>A while ago I saw a list of colleges ranked by number of graduates going into artistic careers. Does anyone know where to find it? As I recall, Oberlin and Vassar had high rankings, while some other liberal arts colleges that often are thought to be fairly "progressive" or "liberal," such as Haverford and several of the NESCAC colleges, ranked toward the bottom. </p>

<p>I'm also curious to know which liberal arts colleges are thought to be strong academically but also strong in terms of campus activities for people who enjoy music, drama and fine arts. I'm particularly interested in hearing about: Amherst, Bates, Beloit, Bowdoin, Colby, Carleton, Grinnell, Hamilton, Haverford, Kenyon, Macalester, Oberlin, Skidmore, Swarthmore, Vassar, Wesleyan and Williams. I'm looking for a place for a student who's strong academically, athletically and musically, but isn't quite Harvard/Yale/MIT material, isn't a future Division I athlete, and probably won't go into the performing arts professionally (although that isn't out of the question). </p>

2

<p>Among that list I would give high marks for equal emphasis on arts and academics to Williams, Wesleyan, Vassar, Skidmore, Oberlin, Kenyon, and Hamilton. Haverford has an excellent studio art department so I’m not sure why it was on the bottom of the list you refer to, but if the focus was on careers, maybe it was different metric. I would also add Conn College, Smith for females.</p>

<p>Since Williams is the one I’m the most familiar with I can note that both art – studio and history – and music are very strong departments. For music there are many performance opportunities on campus, even for non-majors. For art, Williams has one of the best art history departments in the country with three world class museums on or near campus, plus an excellent studio program.</p>

<p>Many Williams students participate in the arts – music ensembles, art museum docents, theater acting and tech – but major in completely different disciplines, like science or social sciences. I would note that many highly talented students who participate in the arts, go on to careers in different fields, so that’s not always the key indicator of campus intensity.</p>

<p>It’s not uncommon for Williams students to excel in all three: academics, sports (or outdoorsy activities) and the arts. This is something that admissions looks for and values, and I think which differentiates Williams from some of the other arts focused schools. The closest I would say would be Hamilton.</p>

<p>LACs have distinctive personalities, so even though two may be more or less equal in their support of the arts, they may be quite different in campus culture. My son’s shortlist included Hamilton, Skidmore, Conn College and Kenyon, but he wasn’t interested in Vassar, Oberlin or Haverford. He also really liked Wesleyan and Swarthmore even though Wesleyan’s culture not much like Williams’ and Swarthmore is not particular strong in art studio or history. So, I guess what I’m trying to say, is that sometimes culture (i.e. fit) trumps everything else.</p>

<p>I would suggest that your son/daughter submit arts supplements for music and art, even if s/he’s not planning to major in one or the other. At these arts focused LACs that’s a big plus.</p>

<p>I would note that many students who participate in the arts on campus go on to careers in different fields, so that’s not always the key indicator of campus intensity. My son has two close friends and classmates who are accomplished musicians, but majored in science and humanities and ended up with graduate degrees in urban planning and law, so eventual career paths are not always indicative of interest, talent and campus focus.</p>

3

<p>“I’m also curious to know which liberal arts colleges are thought to be strong academically but also strong in terms of campus activities for people who enjoy music, drama and fine arts.”</p>

<p>Have you checked our Sarah Lawrence yet? It definitely qualities for “Strong Academics” (especially in the humanities and certain social sciences) along with “Strong music, drama, and fine arts.” It doesn’t quite meet your athletic criteria, though. A very large amount of their grads end up going into some sort of creative employment - in fact, the arts are the heart of the college in many respects.</p>

<p>Bard is another place to look into. It’s culture is also very art-centric, though it’s been branching out more and more in recent years. </p>

4

<p>If you put in the name of the LAC on this site <a href=“College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics”>http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/&lt;/a&gt; and then click on the drop down menu for programs/majors you can see how many people majored in theater, art, etc. Of course, this doesn’t show how many students participated in plays, art shows, etc but it can show which schools attract more VPA majors. </p>

5

<p>I just noticed the following post, which somebody named “interesteddad” posted in the Swarthmore thread in 2005. Getting a PhD in music or art is not the way most people pursue music or art careers, but the information is still interesting.</p>

<hr>

<p>From interesteddad:</p>

<p>Here are the top-48 undergrad schools in per capita PhD and Doctoral production from 1994-2003. Rank, followed by name, followed by number of PhDs per 1000 undergrads. This covers all PhDs and doctoral degrees included in the NSF data base.</p>

<p>Per Capita Undergrad Production of PhDs and Doctoral Degrees</p>

<p>Academic field: Music and Art</p>

<p>PhDs and Doctoral Degrees: 1994 to 2003 from NSF database</p>

<p>Enrollment from 2004 USNews</p>

<p>Formula: PhDs divided by undergrad enrollment times 1000</p>

<p>1 Juilliard School 170
2 Oberlin College 66
3 San Francisco Conservatory of Music 64
4 New England Conservatory of Music 35
5 University of Rochester 31
6 Swarthmore College 27
7 Yale University 22
8 Bryn Mawr College 18
9 Carleton College 18
10 Wellesley College 18
11 Smith College 18
12 Amherst College 17
13 Bennington College 17
14 Harvard University 15
15 Williams College 15
16 Lawrence University 14
17 St Olaf College 13
18 Pomona College 12
19 Wesleyan University 12
20 Vassar College 11
21 Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL) 11
22 Northwestern Univ 11
23 Luther College 11
24 Barnard College 11
25 Furman University 10
26 Sarah Lawrence College 10
27 Sweet Briar College 10
28 Goshen College 10
29 Connecticut College 9
30 Grinnell College 9
31 Marlboro College 9
32 Rice University 9
33 Bowdoin College 9
34 Reed College 8
35 Princeton University 8
36 SUNY College at Potsdam 8
37 College of Wooster 8
38 Hampshire College 7
39 Brown University 7
40 Mount Holyoke College 7
41 Trinity University 7
42 Southwestern University 7
43 Baldwin-Wallace College 7
44 Wabash College 7
45 Augustana College (Rock Island, IL) 7
46 Macalester College 7
47 Haverford College 7
48 Mills College 7</p>

<p>Note 1: Some have complained that these lists don’t provide useful data. Proposed Solution: ignore the lists.</p>

<p>Note 2: Some have complained that these lists don’t include Law, MBA, MD, or Masters degrees. Proposed Solution: find the data and make your own list.</p>

<p>Note 3: Some have complained that I should go school by school and selectively remove engineering from one school or music from another, but leave them for still others. Proposed Solution: Be my guest. </p>

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<p>You’re right. It’s interesting but not the way most people pursue music or art. As a friend who is a professional singer told me, if you want to perform you don’t get a PhD.</p>

7

I realize I’m resurrecting an old thread here, but I just have to give a shout-out to @whenhen: that navigator site is exactly what I’ve been looking for! I hadn’t been able to find anything previously that broke down visual and performing arts majors into sub-disciplines. Very revealing and helpful!