Rankings by major · 386 schools scored

Best colleges for art, music & theater

Every school we cover is scored 0–100 for art, music & theater. The score blends how graduates in the major do four years out against the national norm for the same major, the strength of the student body, how many undergraduate courses the department lists, and the size of the program. Small programs (under five graduates a year) are capped. 80 and up is a standout program, 65+ strong, 45+ solid.

The top art, music & theater schools: Carnegie Mellon University, University of Southern California, Vanderbilt University.

Top 100 colleges for art, music & theater
Rank	School	Score (0–100)	Tier	Graduates per year in the major	Share of the class	Pay vs. national, same major	Acceptance rate
1	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA	95	Standout	153	9.5%	1.63×	11%
2	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	94	Standout	657	12.1%	1.27×	10%
2	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	94	Standout	98	5.7%	1.38×	6%
2	Dartmouth College Hanover, NH	94	Standout	63	6%	1.66×	6%
5	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	93	Standout	182	8.8%	1.25×	7%
5	Williams College Williamstown, MA	93	Standout	61	11.9%	1.33×	9%
5	Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA	93	Standout	33	7.9%	–	7%
8	New York University New York, NY	92	Standout	1,200	17.5%	1.18×	9%
8	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	92	Standout	115	5.3%	1.63×	11%
8	Brown University Providence, RI	92	Standout	102	6.1%	1.47×	5%
11	Yale University New Haven, CT	91	Standout	82	5.8%	–	5%
11	Carleton College Northfield, MN	91	Standout	45	9.3%	–	20%
13	University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	90	Standout	450	5.6%	1.34×	16%
13	Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MO	90	Standout	145	7.8%	1.32×	12%
13	Wesleyan University Middletown, CT	90	Standout	133	16.6%	–	16%
16	Emory University Atlanta, GA	89	Standout	110	5.2%	–	10%
16	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	89	Standout	55	3.2%	–	4%
16	Hamilton College Clinton, NY	89	Standout	46	9.3%	–	14%
16	Amherst College Amherst, MA	89	Standout	38	7.5%	–	9%
16	Pomona College Claremont, CA	89	Standout	24	6.6%	–	7%
21	Wellesley College Wellesley, MA	88	Standout	40	7.1%	–	14%
22	Chapman University Orange, CA	87	Standout	372	18.8%	1.40×	72%
22	Bowdoin College Brunswick, ME	87	Standout	28	6.3%	–	7%
24	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY	86	Standout	310	9.1%	1.25×	46%
24	Tufts University Medford, MA	86	Standout	154	10.4%	1.12×	11%
24	Tulane University of Louisiana New Orleans, LA	86	Standout	97	4.7%	–	14%
24	Brandeis University Waltham, MA	86	Standout	50	5.8%	1.48×	40%
24	Rice University Houston, TX	86	Standout	47	4.6%	–	8%
24	Grinnell College Grinnell, IA	86	Standout	27	6.7%	–	15%
30	Occidental College Los Angeles, CA	85	Standout	48	9.9%	–	45%
30	Middlebury College Middlebury, VT	85	Standout	42	6.4%	–	11%
32	Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY	84	Standout	77	11.8%	1.14×	19%
32	Stanford University Stanford, CA	84	Standout	38	2.4%	–	4%
32	Colby College Waterville, ME	84	Standout	27	5.1%	–	7%
35	Northeastern University Boston, MA	83	Standout	105	2.4%	1.57×	5%
35	Colorado College Colorado Springs, CO	83	Standout	55	11%	–	18%
35	Colgate University Hamilton, NY	83	Standout	44	5.9%	–	14%
38	Columbia University New York, NY	82	Standout	137	6.2%	0.98×	5%
38	Barnard College New York, NY	82	Standout	65	8.9%	–	9%
38	Kenyon College Gambier, OH	82	Standout	65	14.2%	1.30×	31%
38	Smith College Northampton, MA	82	Standout	62	10.4%	1.05×	21%
38	Duke University Durham, NC	82	Standout	41	2.2%	–	5%
38	Wake Forest University Winston Salem, NC	82	Standout	37	2.9%	–	22%
38	Trinity College Hartford, CT	82	Standout	29	5.6%	–	30%
38	Reed College Portland, OR	82	Standout	21	7%	–	29%
46	The University of Texas–Austin Austin, TX	81	Standout	390	3.8%	1.22×	27%
46	University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA	81	Standout	319	3.6%	1.42×	11%
46	University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA	81	Standout	89	2%	1.32×	17%
46	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	81	Standout	78	2.7%	1.08×	5%
46	University of Chicago Chicago, IL	81	Standout	71	4.1%	–	4%
46	Connecticut College New London, CT	81	Standout	56	13.3%	1.48×	37%
46	Whitman College Walla Walla, WA	81	Standout	42	12.5%	–	38%
46	Lafayette College Easton, PA	81	Standout	34	4.9%	–	31%
46	Princeton University Princeton, NJ	81	Standout	21	1.7%	–	4%
55	Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA	80	Standout	313	18.6%	1.32×	45%
55	University of Washington Seattle, WA	80	Standout	304	3.5%	1.39×	39%
55	Skidmore College Saratoga Springs, NY	80	Standout	82	14.3%	1.21×	24%
55	Denison University Granville, OH	80	Standout	43	8%	–	17%
55	Bates College Lewiston, ME	80	Standout	19	4%	–	13%
60	University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	79	Strong	408	4.4%	1.11×	9%
60	Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX	79	Strong	135	5.9%	1.21×	48%
60	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY	79	Strong	39	2.5%	1.70×	63%
60	University of Richmond Richmond, VA	79	Strong	26	3.4%	–	22%
60	Davidson College Davidson, NC	79	Strong	23	4.9%	–	13%
65	University of California, Davis Davis, CA	78	Strong	426	4.9%	1.20×	44%
65	Boston University Boston, MA	78	Strong	172	3.6%	1.12×	13%
65	University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI	78	Strong	162	2.2%	1.21×	45%
65	University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	78	Strong	110	2.3%	1.17×	17%
69	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT	77	Strong	371	6.7%	1.17×	87%
69	University of Georgia Athens, GA	77	Strong	225	2.7%	1.26×	38%
69	Oberlin College Oberlin, OH	77	Strong	213	32.8%	1.02×	34%
69	American University Washington, DC	77	Strong	99	5.6%	1.20×	62%
69	Macalester College Saint Paul, MN	77	Strong	28	5.2%	–	29%
74	Boston College Chestnut Hill, MA	76	Strong	44	1.9%	–	16%
74	Hobart and William Smith Colleges Geneva, NY	76	Strong	25	5.4%	–	64%
76	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	75	Strong	342	3.5%	1.13×	20%
76	Rutgers University–New Brunswick Piscataway, NJ	75	Strong	239	2.8%	1.25×	58%
76	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	75	Strong	218	2.6%	1.23×	42%
76	University of Rochester Rochester, NY	75	Strong	174	9.1%	0.81×	42%
76	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX	75	Strong	128	6.7%	0.90×	48%
76	Pepperdine University Malibu, CA	75	Strong	75	8.1%	1.27×	63%
76	Mount Holyoke College South Hadley, MA	75	Strong	68	11.8%	0.88×	36%
76	Furman University Greenville, SC	75	Strong	47	7.7%	1.22×	43%
76	William & Mary Williamsburg, VA	75	Strong	43	2.7%	–	34%
85	University of Minnesota–Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	74	Strong	263	3.4%	1.13×	80%
85	Fordham University New York, NY	74	Strong	168	7.3%	1.29×	59%
85	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	74	Strong	103	1.9%	1.27×	54%
85	University of Denver Denver, CO	74	Strong	73	5.5%	1.22×	85%
85	Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH	74	Strong	47	3.6%	–	35%
85	College of the Holy Cross Worcester, MA	74	Strong	34	4.5%	–	18%
85	Georgetown University Washington, DC	74	Strong	31	1.7%	–	13%
85	Trinity University San Antonio, TX	74	Strong	21	3.6%	–	26%
85	Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA	74	Strong	18	4.1%	–	14%
94	The New School New York, NY	73	Strong	972	60.5%	1.12×	63%
94	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA	73	Strong	320	9.3%	1.17×	70%
94	The Ohio State University Columbus, OH	73	Strong	240	2.1%	1.17×	51%
94	Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA	73	Strong	189	2.6%	1.37×	55%
94	St. Olaf College Northfield, MN	73	Strong	107	15.3%	1.04×	43%
94	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	73	Strong	53	1.4%	1.01×	9%
100	Baylor University Waco, TX	72	Strong	136	4.2%	1.13×	52%

286 more schools are on the full art, music & theater ranking.

How this ranking works

Updated October 13, 2026. Sources: early-career pay for graduates of each program, by field of study (College Scorecard), graduates per year in the major (IPEDS), undergraduate courses listed in each department's current catalog, and the student body's test scores. Inputs that are missing for a school are dropped and the rest reweighted; programs with fewer than five graduates a year are capped at 30. Scores are relative to the other schools covered, from 0 to 100.

To cite: prefrosh.ai, "Best colleges for art, music & theater," updated October 13, 2026, https://prefrosh.ai/majors/art-music-and-theater. For a specific student's chances at these schools, use Chance me, which reads odds from the student's own high school's admissions chart.

See your odds of getting in · All rankings by major · Overall ranking

Best colleges for art, music & theater

How this ranking works

Rankings for other majors