I’m trying to figure out which colleges have a musical theatre BFA with a well rounded liberal arts education.
Anyone have a list?
Checkout Emerson in Boston,it is a BFA but requires 72 credits in MT & 56 liberal arts credits. That’s more than some BA MT programs require. Interested to see what other programs are mentioned here, great thread.
Emerson is actually my top choice!! I was also thinking (correct me if I’m wrong about these) Ithaca, Marymoutn Manhattan, Muhlenburg, Point Park, Rider, Syracuse, Pace,CAP 21 (with Malloy College) Otterbain, Montclair, UW (not a BFA) and Illinois Weslayan. Are all of those BFA and liberal arts?
Also., anybody have any info about these schools that I’d want to know? for now this is my list…
Also I heard that Illinois Weslayan has a huge drinking issue… anyone know anything?
Thanks!
We looked at Syracuse’s curriculum very close in 2014 (D was admitted). It was much more conservatory- very limited # of “non theater” classes required. (1 per semester).
Elon, Belmont, Viterbo. Baldwin Wallace and OCU are both small liberal arts schools with great MT training but the degree they offer is a Bachelor of Music, not a BFA. NYU is also great for liberal arts.
I have thought about NYU I just don’t know if the big school would be best for me. Big class sizes?? Also, my parents don’t really want to pay that much…
So Syracuse isn’t really liberal arts?
Oh, and I would prefer not to go to a religious school… but i would if it was a last resort.
Do most of these attend Unifieds auditions? I live on the West Coast and it is hard to visit all of these.
Coastal Carolina is a liberal arts college with an excellent MT program. The school itself has around 9,000 students. The MT program will have 12 freshmen this year - 7 men and 5 women. That’s a pretty typical class size. There are also 12 Acting/Physical Theatre majors in the freshman class- 7 women and 5 men I believe. The school is located in Conway, SC, very close to Myrtle Beach.
http://www.coastal.edu/about/index.html
http://www.coastal.edu/theatre/
(The theatre page hasn’t been updated, but I know the new page is coming soon.)
CCU does have a prescreen requirement via Accepted. They are not a part of the official Unifieds consortium of schools, but they do hold auditions in Chicago at the same time as the Chicago Unifieds are taking place, normally at the same hotel as the main Unifieds schools. There are a number of other schools that are present at the NYC and/or Chicago Unifieds that are not official members of Unifieds.
http://www.unifiedauditions.com/universities.html
There were three Illinois Wesleyan grads in my son’s summer Shakespeare plays – and all quite talented. (I didn’t party with the cast, though, so I couldn’t tell you about the drinking. My impression is that everyone made pretty good use of the local brew pub.)
This is just my opinion- but I think of a “liberal arts college” as a smaller setting. Syracuse and NYU are big schools. In terms of big classes however, my D’s studio as a 15 person cap. Last year her classes were 12 and 14 each semester
I would really look at some of the so called “religious” schools. Many colleges throughout the US were founded by churches many years ago - but that does not mean that the education now is religious in nature unless you want it to be. For example, our D goes to OCU, Oklahoma City University. Some people feel it is a “religious” school because it was founded by and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. But the reality is the student body is highly diverse representing a wide range of cultures, religions and backgrounds. There is a requirement to take one religion class during your 4 years - but it can be just about anything - for example, something like comparative religions where you learn about all different faiths around the world. They are not trying to teach one faith or way of thinking. And frankly, given the issues in today’s world, I think the more we understand others beliefs, the better we can all get along. I’ve heard people shy away from other schools as well for this same reason - the concern that they are too religious. Some other great schools with fabulous MT programs whose roots were with a church include Elon (United Church of Christ), Marymount Manhattan (Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary), Muhlenburg (affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) and Otterbein (founded by the United Brethren Church). These are all great schools who offer a wide variety of classes and teachings. I don’t think you will find any of them too “religious” if you visited their campuses and talked to their student body. If you like the training they offer, I would encourage you to investigate those schools further. Talk to students who go there and find out what it is really like. See what courses are really required. And then see what you think. I totally understand not wanting to go to a “religious” school. But if you don’t dig deeper and really look at what the campus cultures are like, you will be missing out on some really great liberal arts colleges if you exclude all those who were founded by or have some affiliation with a church.
When D was looking, she wanted as few liberal arts as possible (ideally, one a semester). Of the schools you listed or those suggested, these had more general education requirements, iirc, and so weren’t on her list: Emerson, Marymount Manhattan, Muhlenburg, Elon. Since BW is a BM degree, they have more music classes (theory, etc.) The ones that seemed to have the fewest gen ed requirements on your list (and were on her list) were Syracuse, Otterbein, Montclair, and Illinois Wesleyan. I think Coastal Carolina was one of those, as well. I wouldn’t rule out IWU based on the number of gen eds required because they are an academically selective and challenging school, and that is true even with MT majors.
My D was admitted to IWU, and, in the end, her top choices were IWU and UArts (where she’s attending in a month–gasp–that came fast). We loved IWU–the size (only 12 admitted; 7 attending), the caring yet demanding faculty, the level of talent, the family-like environment of the program (among the students; they even took D, a “prospie,” totally under their wings), the stellar academics, etc. However, there was a drinking element that seemed like it could be kind of strong on-campus. MT majors didn’t seem to party as heavily as others seemed to (they knew they had to be in great shape for their major/career), but it was still present in some conversations, etc. That was a turn-off to D, but it wouldn’t have totally prevented her from attending. They seemed welcoming and open to whatever decisions people made about it. And, I think that the party element can be found on any campus. It’s an excellent program that I think deserves to be looked at, especially if you want intense MT along with quality liberal arts.
@BeccaW444 If you go to each website look up their MT program and somewhere on there is the amount of credits for MT and credits in liberal arts. Many of the BFA;s you listed do not require many courses outside of the MT program. If that is what you are looking for perhaps you should look into BA programs as well.
In that sense it might be worth investigating Northwestern. It’s not exactly a liberal arts college, nor does it offer a BFA, yet it might still be what you’re looking for. The school as a whole has ~8,000 undergrads, but average class size is 8 students. They offer an MT Certificate which can, for students with AP and/or IB credits, be very flexibly shaped to resemble a BFA if desired. It’s on a beautiful ivy-covered lakefront campus in a great small college town, and has many great traditions. Maybe worth a look.
Good luck!
@BeccaW444 – Can you more clearly clarify what kind of education experience you are looking for in college?
Are you looking for a more well rounded academic education in addition to rigorous Musical Theatre training?
Or, a small liberal arts college with rigorous Musical Theatre training?
If you can clarify just a bit more specifically, we might be able to suggest a few more schools for you to look at.
I would not get “hung up” on the BA/ BFA distinction. Look at the balance of curriculum at schools… you can get strong training at some BAs and strong academics at some BFAs. 
A well rounded academic, plus rigorous MT training.
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Some of these are BAs some are BFAs… all offer both well rounded academics and strong MT training in varying degrees… some require more academics than others.
NYU
Northwestern
James Madison
Muhlenberg
University of Alabama
Penn State
Elon
University of Michigan
Illinois Weslyan
Some of these have already been mentioned.