<p>There are many schools that have Dance departments but there’s a large drop-off in the numbers that have good ballet, most concentrating on modern and sometimes jazz. And some that have ballet have it only to the intermediate level, which isn’t going to be satisfactory to someone who has been doing ballet for years.</p>
<p>If a school does have ballet classes, look at what department they’re a part of: Dance department, excellent; theater arts, generally okay. Physical education, ummm…no. Then there are the EC groups. Stanford’s Cardinal Ballet is a great opportunity, assuming you can get into Stanford.</p>
<p>There are schools that have excellent ballet but wouldn’t fit for the OP’s niece, such as Utah and Indiana, which have good ballet but are more modest in terms of academic challenge.</p>