By Gus Saltonstall
The Juilliard School is cutting costs — but not in the way you might guess.
The world-renowned performing arts school located within Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side announced on Wednesday that it is making its master’s program in acting tuition-free.
Juilliard graduate students will now be able to attend all four years of the Master of Fine Arts in acting program free of charge. The costs will be covered by existing scholarships and recently announced donations that were matched by school trustee Stephanie P. McClelland and her husband, Carter McClelland.
In its Wednesday announcement. Juilliard said the acting program will join “the school’s growing list of tuition-free programs” starting with the 2024-25 academic year. The school called it a “milestone achievement” that furthers its ambition “to continue to remove financial barriers and expand access to all who qualify to study at Juilliard.”
For some financial context, Juilliard’s four-year master’s program in acting previously cost around $53,000 a year for students.
Juilliard’s transition to no tuition for its graduate acting degree came after the school raised $15 million, which included a major gift from producer John Gore, as well as the matching funds from the McClellands, reported DEADLINE.
“We believe that talent has always been greater than opportunity,” Juilliard President Damian Woetzel said in the announcement. “Juilliard is committed to attacking barriers of access to the highest level of artistic education in drama, dance, and music.”
Juilliard’s other programs that are tuition-free or fully funded by scholarships include eight degrees within Artist Diplomas, Doctor of Musical Arts, and Historical Performances.
Juilliard’s MFA in acting is the only four-year program of its kind in the United States; most similar degrees are three-year programs. The Hollywood Reporter named Juilliard the best drama school in the world in 2023.
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This is an excellent and important step to help make sure that we continue to develop new acting talent to delight and move us in the coming years!
I ama widow 88 yrs young. I would love to sit in on your acting classes – just to audit. I couldn t afford to pay tuition prices – however perhaps you d have space for a lone woman to sit in – not to participate. My email address is Success5@icloud.com Cell 201-906-6905.
Many thanks
You’d be much more likely to be successful if you write an email and make some phone calls.
Break a leg!
Unfortunately no matter how good one is the reality is you cannot make a living as an actor
Very few acting jobs are available per year compared to the great number seeking work
Zi would not want my child to endure that misery.
This is incredible news. This is a very competitive school! I would love the chance for a second life career om acting. I’m older but people are going to be living longer. Going to look into this for 2024 2025
Actors will not be needed soon. Ai will replicate scripts, voices and actors. The world is being turned over to machines, and if you read the new contract by tbexWGA..a percentage of ” human” intervention on an A I script will determine salary. It’s very scary.