I’m a rising senior who has been involved in theater for years, and I know I want to be for the rest of my life. Originally I planned on studying design and production and moving in that direction, since performance degrees aren’t necessarily the best for finding jobs, but in looking at colleges I found that some of the schools I’m interested in (Emerson and BSU, for example) offer a theater education major. I love the idea of teaching theater, and what I enjoy most about these theater ed programs is that you are still given performance opportunities while in school - something I thought I would miss if I decided to move into the design side of things. My performing experience outweighs my design/tech experience, and I feel like theater ed both suits me and is better for finding work, but I still have an interest in design and it is a much more common major. If anyone has any insight on which program might be better, or even other programs/schools that might interest me, it would be greatly appreciated!!
You may want to look for programs where you do not have to choose so rigidly. For example, I teach at James Madison University. Students can choose to have multiple concentrations, and Theatre Education and Design/Tech is not uncommon. Theatre Education students can also choose to have the once concentration, still take design/tech, performance and other classes. All students, regardless of concentration, have the opportunity to take course work in all areas, audition for shows, and can have design opportunities once they have the background and coursework.
I am sure there are other schools may provide similar opportunities.