One of the entertainment industry’s oldest and most influential publications included Elon University in a ranking that also featured Julliard, Yale, and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, among other top schools for the performing arts.
Elon University is named among the world’s best drama schools for 2025 in a list published by The Hollywood Reporter, an American print and digital magazine founded nearly a century ago that covers the entertainment, film, theatre and television industries.
The university was ranked #23 and is the only North Carolina private school featured by the magazine. The University of North Carolina School of the Arts and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill also made the list.
“From L.A. to London,” the magazine writes, “these sterling institutions offer aspiring actors a solid foundation for both stage and screen.”
From the Hollywood Reporter:
Elon’s strong musical theater program accepts about 14 to 16 students annually and has many alumni on national tours and Broadway, including Taylor Trensch, a Tony nominee for this season’s Floyd Collins, and Grant Gustin, who led last season’s Water for Elephants. The university helps students secure professional theater work during the summer and hosts a senior casting series in which the graduating class performs for top agents and casting directors in the entertainment industry, gaining feedback and many garnering professional representation. Some classes also perform a filmed or New York showcase. Tuition is close to $49,000.
Elon University’s Department of Performing Arts offers seven degree programs: Acting, Arts Administration, Dance Performance & Choreography, Dance Science, Drama and Theatre Studies, Music Theatre and Theatrical Design and Technology. Four programs require an audition or interview.
About Elon University
Elon University is a nationally recognized leader in engaged, experiential learning that prepares graduates to be creative, resilient, ambitious and ethical citizens of our global culture.
At Elon, more than 7,000 students learn through hands-on experiences and close working relationships with faculty and staff whose priorities are teaching and mentoring. The curriculum is grounded in the liberal arts and sciences with emphasis on global experiences and career development. More than 70 undergraduate majors are complemented by professional and graduate programs in law, business, education and health care. Elon is ranked No. 1 for excellence in undergraduate teaching by U.S. News & World Report.
Elon’s academic divisions include Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences; the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business; the School of Communications; the Dr. Jo Watts Williams School of Education; the School of Health Sciences; and the School of Law, with programs in Greensboro and Charlotte, North Carolina.