Artists In USC's Master's Program Won't Pay A Dime Of Tuition Starting This Fall

The University of Southern California’s School of Dramatic Arts on Wednesday announced free tuition for its students pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Acting and Dramatic Writing starting this fall.

The school hopes to lessen financial barriers amid “tightening competition for opportunities in film and TV,” and encourage greater diversity, according to a statement.

How it will work

All incoming students in the MFA programs for the 2024-25 academic year will not pay to attend. The School of Dramatic Arts is highly selective, with only eight and two students, respectively, admitted to Acting and Dramatic Writing each year.

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Current students benefit too and can now complete their education for free. Having paid $58,234 for last year’s tuition, those students may be saving tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Why now

The school’s move to eliminate tuition hopes to provide students from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds with opportunities in entertainment. The Hollywood job market remains highly competitive after the actors and writers’ strikes last summer.

The decision to go tuition-free allows diverse talents to contribute their perspectives and narratives to an industry that is more accepting of stories historically excluded from the mainstream, according to the university.

In addition to eliminating financial barriers, Dean Emily Roxworthy has worked to create multi-hyphenate actors who can also write, direct and produce work to increase the reach of their voices and improve their employability and versatility.

Roxworthy told LAist the school’s commitment to diversity is “our proposition in the world of drama schools.”

The backstory

Other prestigious universities, including the acting programs at Julliard and Yale, have recently gone tuition-free as well. Juilliard's program received support from existing scholarship funds and Broadway producer Stefanie McClelland. Yale's initiative was funded entirely by film producer David Geffen.

USC credits its scholarship donors for making this feat possible as well as its board councilors, which includes actress Connie Britton and producer and actor Nnamdi Asomugha.

Britton said the move evoked "a commitment to creating opportunity for all and emphasizes the school’s value in telling diverse stories from varied backgrounds regardless of financial means."

The board councilors also helped fund the school’s new building, which was finished in March.