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Education
Yale School of Drama Goes Tuition-Free
The change is thanks to a $150 million donation from David Geffen By Diep Tran
BACKSTAGE 07.15.21
school’s dean, James Bundy, at a press briefing. “We believe the power of the simple message ‘tuition-free’ is going to counteract that impression, and that more prospective students will be able to imagine themselves at the David Geffen School of Drama.” The School of Drama is a graduate program that offers degrees in acting, design, directing, dramaturgy and dramatic criticism, playwriting, stage management, technical design and production, and
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CURRENT AND FUTURE STUdents of the Yale School of Drama will no longer have to pay tuition. Producer and entertainment executive David Geffen has gifted the school $150 million, earmarked for the cost of education. The school will also be renamed the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University. “There are potential applicants who think that they could never afford graduate theater training at an Ivy League school,” said the
theater management. It enrolls around 200 students, who also receive work experience at the connected Yale Repertory Theatre. Alumni include Meryl Streep, Frances McDormand, Angela Bassett, Paul Giamatti, and Lupita Nyong’o. Bundy also said that “about half” of the current student body at the school is BIPOC, and that the school will continue to focus on recruiting students from diverse backgrounds. Yale president Peter Salovey said that making the school tuition-free will help students get a leg up in an industry that can be low-paying and especially tough for artists starting their career saddled with student debt. “This allows students of the theater…to take risks and to pursue their dreams,” he said. Yale will also continue to offer financial aid for students to go toward living expenses. “Our living expenses will
be based on need-based aid, so students will still submit financial aid applications,” said the school’s associate dean, Chantal Rodriguez. “And if they have demonstrated financial need, then they will be eligible for support for living expenses. And we also have a pretty robust work-study program. And so, with tuition being covered by David Geffen’s gift, then that means all work-study earnings will go towards offsetting the cost-of-living expenses as well.” The David Geffen School of Drama will eliminate tuition for all degree and certificate students beginning this fall semester. Yale is not expected to increase the number of students it admits to the drama school. Geffen is not an alumnus of the school, though he did teach a course at Yale in the 1970s. “Yale is well-known for having one of the most respected drama programs in the country,” said Geffen in a statement. “So when they approached me with this opportunity, I knew Yale was the right place to begin to change the way we think about funding arts education. Yale already provides some of the best professional training available to actors, writers, directors, designers, and theater managers from diverse backgrounds. Removing the tuition barrier will allow an even greater diversity of talented people to develop and hone their skills in front of, on, and behind Yale’s stages. I hope this gift will inspire others to support similar efforts to increase accessibility and affordability for arts education at colleges and universities across the country.”
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