Vassar College Theatre (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft
- Private nonprofit college
- Poughkeepsie, NY
- About 24 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Vassar College theatre graduates earn about what theatre graduates earn nationally, $19,339 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $20,000 in federal loans, less than at 82% of theatre programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying theatre degrees in New York.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The New York and national columns are the medians across all theatre bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Vassar College graduates earn more than the national figure and about $5,498 more than the New York median.
Debt and first-year pay at every New York theatre program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the New York medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 101% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $212 a month, or 13.2% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
65% of graduates (22 of 34) were working in New York one year after graduating. Prices in the Kiryas Joel area are about 9% above the national average, so a $19,339 salary here buys what about $17,674 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to theatre, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Producers and Directors
$107,550Median pay in New York. 27,990 people work in this job in New York. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Writers and Authors
$76,910Median pay nationwide. 7,480 people work in this job in New York. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Vassar College
Theatre ranks 21st of 21 bachelor's programs at Vassar College by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer and Information Science ($80,037), Economics ($79,845), and Mathematics ($52,085).
Other theatre bachelor's programs near Poughkeepsie
Common questions
The median graduate earns $19,339 one year after graduating and $38,959 five years after. The median across theatre bachelor's programs in New York is $18,740.
The median federal loan balance is $20,000, which ranks 3rd lowest of 27 theatre bachelor's programs in New York. That works out to about $212 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 103% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 115%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several New York programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 65% (22 of 34) were working in New York one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of New York comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the theatre program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024