Hello!
I am going to be talking to the class of 2021 about the BFA college process, and due to my busy schedule I was limited in my research in the past two years. I’m sure that the scope of schools has changed and I’d like to hear what schools are really being talked about as great up and coming and small programs.
Thank you in advance!
The MT Department at Viterbo in La Crosse, WI, is a smaller program with a fine reputation and a skilled, caring artistic staff. The 2016-17 cost of attendance (tuition/fees/room and board) is a relatively modest $34,600. Academic merit scholarships, unrelated to need, for good high school students range from 12K-14K per year and are renewable for a total of five years (great perk for those considering double majors). From our experience, the school is very liberal in its calculation of EFC and came closest to meeting it in relation to the other universities to which we applied.
In addition, stackable, artistic scholarships are available and particularly generous if you are a talented male (program seemingly has had trouble drawing boys due to location, cold weather and less-traditional college experience). In terms of bang for the buck it is hard to beat, especially if you are a guy.
Some of the school names I have seen on CC becoming more discussed in the last few years that were not even part of the conversation when our D went through the process in 2013 include:
Montclair
Manhattan School of Music
Cap 21/Molloy College
UAB (University of Alabama-Birmingham)
There also has been discussion of some well-known schools who are adding programs that may be of interest such as:
Baldwin-Wallace is adding a BFA in Acting
Pace has a BA Acting - International Performance Ensemble
I’m sure there are many other new additions. These are just off the top of my head.
More Recently Added or Upgraded BFA MT Programs
West Virginia started a new BFA MT
Baylor now has an BFA MT track
Auburn is now a BFA MT
Tampa is now a BFA MT
Southeast Missouri State is now an auditioned BFA MT program
Temple added a BFA MT
Samford is now a BFA MT
Boston U added an MT concentration
Seton Hill now offers an auditioned BFA MT
West Florida is now an auditioned BFA MT
There are a number of threads about up and coming programs… You could probably do most of your research just by reading this forum.
I second the suggestion of UAB. Great up-and-coming program with a wonderful director.
Thanks so much for the great responses so far! This is very helpful
@KTVoice you are right! This forum is a wealth of knowledge and I used to spend hours combing it to help my students. However, due to some personal reasons I haven’t had the time to do that over the past year or so, and I so I was hoping for some help to see if I would be missing any programs recommending the ones that I usually recommend.
Hey there! Temple University has had a BA MT degree that was already similar to a BFA program but is officially starting it this coming year. The new BFA program added more performance classes. Philly is a really great theater town and an awesome city to live in, and Temple itself offers good merit aid. MT’s can also audition for plays which I find beneficial because I’d love to work in both musical theater as well as straight theater. Some of the classes are done through Boyer, which is a pretty great music school. The program is growing a lot, I’d definitely recommend visiting!
@attheballet I have some students that just graduated from the BA program and one entering the BFA program! I always recommend Temple!
I’m trying to say this as kindly as I can.
If my student were going to be at your event. I would be disappointed to know you got your information from a thread on CC and not through experience with the programs and research. So I hope you are using this as a “brainstorming” type of session and you are not taking the opinions of parents on this forum as your main source of information.
@KTVoice Thanks for the kind response.
This is just to do a little extra research (and encourage students to do extra research) on any schools that might have slipped by my radar. I have lot of information from many sources, including my alumni at CCM, Carnegie Mellon, Pace, NYU, BoCo, Syracuse, Elon, Baldwin Wallace, Hartt, Indiana, Emerson, Montclair, Marymount, Rider, Wagner, Point Park, U Arts, Roosevelt, Otterbein, Shenandoah, Temple, USC, Muhlenberg and more.
Make sure Ball State in in there. The graduates form there are doing great things!
I teach at James Madison and the alums are doing very well. I am happy to answer any questions if you PM or email me.
If you haven’t yet, check out Wright State. It’s not on many people’s radar - except in the South for some reason. . .
Oh yes Wright State for sure. We didn’t know much but kept reading and hearing how the BFA MT program is getting more and more recognized and has a very strong reputation in NY! So happy S put it in his top 10!
@MTCoachNYC you probably already know this because you are in New York, but the MSM musical theatre program is a BM. Thought that was worth noting.
And it seems the MT and acting programs at U of Arizona have been revamped with new department heads from the professional industry. (As seems to be the trend of late) I think this might have been the first year for the new direction and hopefully no more cuts. Maybe someone here knows