My S21 just graduated from the bfa acting at a conservatory. There is a zero percent possibility that he could have completed the program and been a competitive athlete. Classes start early in the morning, rehearsals go late at night. They have intense physical classes. BFA programs are generally expensive and intense. If he is not sure of his path then a ba acting program makes a lot more sense.
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Thank you for your insight.
I think you are absolutely right, from what I’ve seen online, there’s a reason I can’t find anyone who has successfully balanced both disciplines. I think he will be faced with a tough decision.
I’m a former professional MT performer and opera singer, so I know how difficult that path is, but, according to his professors, he is very talented and much more likely to have a career in acting vs making it to the NFL. The tough part is that he has played football for almost 10 years; it’s all he has ever wanted to do, whereas he has been acting for just over a year.
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Hi helpingthekid73,
Thank you for your input.
The general consensus and my own thoughts fully agree with what you are saying. I think he will try to do both, but like Josh Norman whom I mentioned earlier, I think he will wind up transferring to a BA.
May I ask where your son did his BFA? Did he enjoy it and feel it was worthwhile?
He graduated from UNCSA
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To add to my original query above.
I’m also thinking that perhaps a BA, which would offer more scheduling flexibility, may be the way to go. The BA in Stage and Screen Acting at UNLV, is the only BA that he has applied to which requires an audition. The program certainly appears to be more focused on the practical side of the craft vs some of the other, more academic leaning and less acting orientated BA theatre programs we’ve seen.
Any thoughts on the program at UNLV or any suggestions for other similarly focused, audition entry Acting BAs?
My rationale is that if entry to the program is via audition, then perhaps the faculty are more serious about the calibre of acting students accepted and the quality of acting instruction offered.
Thank you in advance for your input 
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The bigger issue is whether or not you/your son would be comfortable attending school in the gambling capital of the world.
We’ve been a couple of times, definitely some places to avoid but we enjoyed the shows and restaurants and of course the sporting events. My H has just reminded me about our 2015 trip, we did some really cool non-gambling things. We went hiking and also took a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam. That was during a 6 week country wide trip and our time in Vegas was definitely one of our main highlights.
If he went to UNLV, he would be living on campus and too busy for much outside of study, learning lines, recovery and football 
TBF we were a bit concerned when we sent our small town Aussie lad to LA but it’s worked out really well. He’s been out in the city a handful of times to birthday celebrations etc and football games but he tends to do more things in the city when we visit which is 3 times a year. TBF, he has so much on that he enjoys his free time at home when he can rest, chill out, recover, cook and do his meal prep for the week etc
As a serious athlete, he’s 100% focused on clean eating, recovery, self-care, isn’t really too interested in going out much and drinking etc; He’s 22 and the drinking age in Aus is 18 so he’s got a lot of partying out of his system. He has loads of mates who try to get him to go out all the time but he has learned it’s OK to say no
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This is SO not my area of expertise. But I have been known to like to research 
.
The following schools are listed as D1 programs in College Navigator (the feds’ website) with men’s football. I listed the number of graduates who earned a degree in the major during SY23-24 and listed the major as their first major (the data in College Navigator does not include double majors).
There are some schools that are on the list primarily because they are some of the smallest D1 schools that offer football, and small schools have a reputation for being more flexible with one-off situations. (And some of the schools, like Davidson and Lafayette, have very deep pockets.) Others are medium or larger schools with larger drama programs. I don’t know which of these schools have BFAs and BAs or just BAs, so that is something your family would need to research.
I would be tempted to reach out to Wagner. It’s a small school (fewer than 1600 undergrads) with a popular drama program. It seems like if anyone’s tried to go down the route that your son is looking for, this school may have examples (of any attempts made and whether kids had to switch out/down or whether they were able to successfully complete them). @circuitrider may be able to give more context on the school if it’s one that your son becomes interested in.
| School | Undergrad Population | # of Acting Majors | # of Drama and Dramatics/ Theater Arts Majors | Other Related Majors (Film/Theater) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appalachian State | 19,405 | 27 | ||
| Ball State (IN) | 14,874 | 70 | ||
| Baylor (TX) | 15,155 | 19 | 3 | 43 |
| Benedictine (KS) | 2,391 | 3 | ||
| Bucknell (PA ) | 3,846 | 3 | ||
| Butler (IN) | 4,519 | 5 | ||
| Colgate (NY) | 3,131 | 4 | 14 | |
| College of the Holy Cross (MA) | 3,035 | 5 | ||
| Davidson (NC) | 1,904 | 7 | ||
| Elon (NC) | 6,402 | 13 | 25 | |
| Fordham (NY) | 10,307 | 34 | 38 | |
| Furman (SC) | 2,327 | 1 | ||
| Illinois State | 18,450 | 56 | ||
| Kent State (OH) | 20,485 | 22 | 16 | |
| Lafayette (PA ) | 2,764 | 2 | 6 | |
| Miami U. (OH) | 16,478 | 16 | ||
| Middle Tennessee State | 17,668 | 22 | 105 | |
| Missouri State - Springfield | 19,259 | 23 | 29 | |
| Northwestern (IL) | 9,157 | 89 | ||
| Ohio U. | 19,100 | 15 | 4 | 25 |
| Samford (AL) | 3,832 | 6 | 16 | |
| Southern Methodist (TX) | 7,115 | 14 | 34 | |
| Syracuse (NY) | 15,739 | 20 | 10 | 60 |
| Temple (PA ) | 21,720 | 53 | 121 | |
| Texas Christian | 10,937 | 13 | 6 | 2 |
| Texas State | 34,547 | 159 | ||
| Towson (MD) | 16,517 | 22 | 20 | |
| U. of Central Florida | 59,470 | 82 | 186 | |
| U. of Kansas | 20,696 | 18 | 69 | |
| U. of Montana | 7,570 | 26 | 27 | |
| U. of Nevada - Las Vegas | 25,794 | 1 | 124 | |
| U. of North Texas | 33,858 | 43 | ||
| U. of South Florida | 37,269 | 22 | ||
| U. of Tulsa (OK) | 2,485 | 1 | 3 | |
| Valparaiso (IN) | 2,255 | 6 | ||
| Wagner (NY) | 1,592 | 40 | 5 | |
| Western Michigan | 13,026 | 10 | 40 | |
| Wofford (SC) | 1,873 | 1 |
Wishing your son the best as he navigates this situation.
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Wow! Thank you so much, this is so kind of you 
I have been researching for a while and have found quite a few football/BFA/BA acting schools but data on football player/theatre majors has eluded me.
I will definitely look into some of the schools on your list.
I’m new here, this is my first post, but I gotta say, I love this community 
I’m on every platform you can think of and this is by far the best!
Thanks again
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Fun question!
With your background in MT and opera, you of course know that a university degree in theatre (whether BA or BFA) is neither necessary nor sufficient for a career as an actor. Either he has it (charisma, talent etc) or he doesn’t, and it sounds like he just might!
I agree that combining D1 with a BFA will be nearly impossible. To allow such a thing, the football coach would have to see your son as being worth the trouble– in other words, probably a weak team. For example, maybe the Wagner coach would allow it (I don’t know), but would your son be happy with so much losing? Certainly the acting opportunities for Wagner are very strong, but the football is not.
The only program I can personally speak for on the list above is Fordham. It has strong theatre training, but I don’t think it would work for your son– the theater program is in Manhattan while the football program is 40 minutes away in the Bronx, and it has a huge core, with 4 semesters of foreign language required.
Another idea is UMN. Has both BA and BFA theatre. Maybe the football is too high level however?
In my opinion, the best bet would be to focus on football fit above all else. He will only get one chance to play D1 football, but if your son is truly talented the acting opportunities will wait for him until after graduation.
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I’ve only visited Wagner once; I saw the inside of a lot of buildings and walked around a lot. It has a good cafeteria. It’s small size and subtle suggestions of ancient provenance reminded me so much of Wesleyan (which is a DIII school) that I’ve kept my eye on it ever since. It is a private school and need-based aid is available. Definitely worth contacting the coach to see whether he is recruitable.
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This is a great answer, thank you. I didn’t know that about Fordham; that’s very useful information. And I think the likelihood of this scenario being workable diminishes quite considerably the higher up the D1 football list we target.
You are quite right, I didn’t do an arts degree, I did 7 years of training (post high school) in 2 different full-time performing arts colleges in London. My opera career began after graduation, when I attended an audition with a friend and was asked to audition because I had the right look, and I got the part. I did my BSC Hons in Computer Science much later as an adult.
I think the football fit will be the dominant factor, which was his original reason for moving to the US. He has already been academically accepted to a few places so he has a back up plan. He needs to have a college spot in place so that should a football offer not eventuate due to injury or any other unforeseen circumstances, he will remain in legal standing. This will allow him to easily transfer his I-20 to his new school and keep the 4 years remaining on his student visa.
It’s a multi-layered conundrum for sure
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Thank you, I’ll definitely look into it 
Has your son been recruited by any football teams ?
Has his current/former football coach contacted any football teams on behalf of your son ?
Has your son entered his name on the transfer portal for football ?
Someone above suggested UMN = University of Minnesota. Not realistic unless your son is being recruited by several other Power 4 conference football teams.
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Wyoming has a D1 football team and a BFA in theater. I think the only way it could work is to do general courses in the fall and theater classes (and productions) in the spring. They do 3 major productions in the fall and 3 in the spring. There are some required theater classes that don’t require practices that could be done in the fall like history of theater, costuming, make up, but to be in a production wouldn’t work with football. This may require an extra semester or year academically after his football days are over. Wyo doesn’t have a BA in theater, but does offer a minor.
Montana also has theater and D1 football. Idaho.
A friend had two children at Coastal Carolina, one in theater, neither in football. They loved the school. The theater one did transfer there after 2 years at a community
Many D1 football players take courses online in season so they can work at their own pace, study when traveling, etc. It’s hard to know what classes he’s taken and what he still needs.
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