Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft at Marymount Manhattan College

Marymount Manhattan's theatre program starts at just under $20,000 in first-year earnings—painfully low by any standard—but it's the 35% earnings growth over four years that makes this program worth examining more carefully. By year four, graduates earn $26,477, which actually outperforms 60% of New York theatre programs despite the rough start.

The $27,000 debt load is slightly higher than the national median but still relatively manageable for the arts. The debt-to-earnings ratio of 1.38 means graduates start with about 1.4 years of first-year salary in debt, which isn't catastrophic when you consider the earnings trajectory. For context, this program ranks in just the 5th percentile nationally for debt—meaning 95% of theatre programs saddle students with more debt. In New York's expensive theatre market, where the state median for theatre graduates is $18,740, Marymount's outcomes look more competitive than the national percentile suggests.

The reality for parents: this is a theatre degree in Manhattan, so poverty-level starting wages come with the territory. But if your child is committed to this path, Marymount offers something valuable—relatively contained debt and genuine earnings growth over time. They're not competing with Buffalo or Hunter's outcomes, but they're beating most NYC theatre programs while keeping debt below $30,000. That combination of trajectory and reasonable debt makes this one of the less financially hazardous ways to pursue this notoriously difficult career path.