Best Actor programs in New York, ranked by enrollment
Play parts in stage, television, radio, video, or film productions, or other settings for entertainment, information, or instruction.
71 schools in New York run programs that feed this job, graduating 2,502 people a year. The job pays a median of $28.44/hr in New York across about 6,630 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in New York that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
5 programs in New York that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in New York (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own New York page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 50.0501In New York → | 1,446 | 57.8% | 62 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
| 2 | CIP 50.0506In New York → | 491 | 19.6% | 12 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
| 3 | CIP 50.0509In New York → | 393 | 15.7% | 14 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
| 4 | CIP 50.0599In New York → | 124 | 5.0% | 5 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
| 5 | CIP 50.0507In New York → | 48 | 1.9% | 3 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
Top 25 schools in New York
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 33 of the 71 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | American Musical and Dramatic Academy New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 579 | Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General | $17,382 | 72% | $40,932 | 24% |
| 2 | New York University New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 424 | Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General | $20,916 | 88% | $29,023 | 9% |
| 3 | American Academy of Dramatic Arts - New York New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 117 | Acting | $12,445 | 96% | $54,325 | 92% |
| 4 | Pace University New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 109 | Acting | $16,659 | 60% | $29,994 | 76% |
| 5 | Marymount Manhattan College New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 100 | Musical Theatre | $19,562 | 49% | $34,258 | 83% |
| 6 | The New School New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 74 | Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General | $17,113 | 69% | $54,185 | 63% |
| 7 | Ithaca College Ithaca, NY Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 73 | Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General | $18,243 | 76% | $28,970 | 69% |
| 8 | Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 68 | Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General | — | 96% | $15,315 | 4% |
| 9 | Long Island University Brookville, NY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 67 | Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General | $18,671 | 57% | $24,639 | 86% |
| 10 | Syracuse University Syracuse, NY Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 66 | Musical Theatre | $20,988 | 84% | $28,851 | 46% |
| 11 | SUNY at Purchase College Purchase, NY Public · 3 feeder programs | 64 | Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General | $18,090 | 63% | — | 74% |
| 12 | CUNY Brooklyn College Brooklyn, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 55 | Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General | $20,645 | 54% | — | 58% |
| 13 | Atlantic Acting School New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 51 | Acting | — | — | — | 2% |
| 14 | SUNY at Fredonia Fredonia, NY Public · 3 feeder programs | 49 | Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General | $20,453 | 50% | — | 78% |
| 15 | Fordham University Bronx, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 40 | Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General | $14,133 | 82% | $38,931 | 59% |
| 16 | Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater New York City, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Dramatic/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft, Other | $10,492 | 44% | $33,096 | 53% |
| 17 | CUNY Hunter College New York, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 28 | Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General | $25,059 | 57% | — | 54% |
| 18 | Hofstra University Hempstead, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General | $15,474 | 69% | $34,539 | 68% |
| 19 | CUNY Graduate School and University Center New York, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General | — | — | — | 68% |
| 20 | State University of New York at New Paltz New Paltz, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General | $21,800 | 72% | — | 62% |
| 21 | Molloy University Rockville Centre, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General | $17,050 | 70% | $25,812 | 82% |
| 22 | Circle in the Square Theatre School New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 23 | Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General | — | 100% | $29,537 | 8% |
| 23 | CUNY City College New York, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 23 | Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General | $15,098 | 57% | — | 60% |
| 24 | Manhattan School of Music New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 23 | Musical Theatre | $29,400 | 78% | $53,742 | 41% |
| 25 | Vassar College Poughkeepsie, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 23 | Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General | $19,339 | 91% | $29,107 | 19% |
All 71 schools in New York
Every school in New York with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Musical and Dramatic Academy | New York | Private not-for-profit | 579 | 4 |
| New York University | New York | Private not-for-profit | 424 | 1 |
| American Academy of Dramatic Arts - New York | New York | Private not-for-profit | 117 | 2 |
| Pace University | New York | Private not-for-profit | 109 | 3 |
| Marymount Manhattan College | New York | Private not-for-profit | 100 | 4 |
| The New School | New York | Private not-for-profit | 74 | 2 |
| Ithaca College | Ithaca | Private not-for-profit | 73 | 3 |
| Columbia University in the City of New York | New York | Private not-for-profit | 68 | 1 |
| Long Island University | Brookville | Private not-for-profit | 67 | 2 |
| Syracuse University | Syracuse | Private not-for-profit | 66 | 4 |
| SUNY at Purchase College | Purchase | Public | 64 | 3 |
| CUNY Brooklyn College | Brooklyn | Public | 55 | 1 |
| Atlantic Acting School | New York | Private not-for-profit | 51 | 1 |
| SUNY at Fredonia | Fredonia | Public | 49 | 3 |
| Fordham University | Bronx | Private not-for-profit | 40 | 1 |
What actors earn in New York
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
BLS publishes an hourly wage only for this occupation. The work is intermittent, so no annual figure is estimated.
Concentrated here: New York employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in New York, by employment
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Actors page.
How to become a Actor
Job zone 2 of 5 · SVP Below 6.0- Typical entry education
- Some college, no degree
- On-the-job training
- Long-term on-the-job training
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in New York
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 7 majors mapped to Actors7 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 50.0501Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General
- 50.0506Acting
- 50.0507Directing and Theatrical Production
- 50.0509Musical Theatre
- 50.0511Comedy Writing and Performance
- 50.0512Theatre and Dance
- 50.0599Dramatic/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft, Other
Common questions
Answers for people weighing actors programs in New York.
What degree do you need to become an Actor?+
Some college, no degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General, which awarded 1,446 degrees in New York in 2024-25, 57.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Actor?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 5 programs to this occupation. The largest are Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft. Together they graduate about 2,502 people a year in New York.
How much do actors earn in New York?+
The median is $28.44 an hour (BLS OEWS May 2025). This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for actors growing?+
BLS projects a +0.3% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 6,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in New York?+
71 institutions in New York reported graduates from at least one of the 5 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do actors work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Actor, Actress, Comedian, Performer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-2011.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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