Juilliard's World Famous Drama Program Going Tuition-Free: Report

UPPER WEST SIDE, NEW YORK — The drama program at Juilliard, the Upper West Side school of the arts that trained elite Hollywood actors like Viola Davis and Jessica Chastain, is going tuition-free in 2024, the school announced in a Juilliard Journal report Wednesday.

The announcement comes as the drama MFA program received full funding thanks to the combination of existing scholarship funding raised from Juilliard trustee Stephanie P. McClelland and her husband Carter's matching challenge—plus gifts from producer John Gore, Jacques and Margot W. Kohn Foundation and multiple estates, the outlet reported.

Juilliard had already offered seven of its college division programs either tuition free or fully funded from scholarships, including its Artist Diploma programs in jazz, music performance, opera studies, and playwriting, according to the Journal.

Now, its world-famous drama program—the only four-year program of its kind in the U.S.— will also be accessible to performers who otherwise might not have had the opportunity to attend.

"The impact of these gifts on our students’ futures—and the field—cannot be overstated," Evan Yionoulis, the Richard Rodgers dean and director of the drama division, told the outlet. "Entering the profession without additional debt will allow these gifted artists the opportunity to take the kind of work, especially in the theater, that will allow them to develop their craft and provide a stable foundation for a lifelong career."

According to Juilliard, the four-year MFA acting program, founded in 2012, "provides intensive training in movement, voice, the Alexander Technique, and other core aspects of the craft, allowing students to develop a comprehensive, embodied understanding of the actor’s work and to apply that understanding to a diverse dramatic repertoire in rehearsal and production."

Read the full report in the Juilliard Journal.