Which New York dance program has the lowest debt?

Lehman College reports the lowest median federal debt, $11,994, with first-year pay of $27,843.

How much do dance graduates earn in New York?

The median across 9 New York dance bachelor's programs is $19,614 in the first year after graduating and $33,967 five years after.

How many dance bachelor's programs are in New York?

9 New York programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 8 of them also report federal debt.

Dance (Bachelor's) Programs in New York, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

9 programs report first-year pay
8 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Dance

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median New York dance bachelor's program pays its graduates $19,614 in their first year, $2,265 less than the national median. Lehman College reports the highest first-year pay ($27,843), and Lehman College the lowest median debt ($11,994).

Median first-year pay$19,614National $21,879

Median pay after 5 years$33,967National $32,954

Median federal debt$26,000National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings133%National 116%

All 9 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Lehman CollegeBronx · public	$27,843	Not reported	$11,994	43%
2	SUNY College at PotsdamPotsdam · public	$24,094	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
3	Marymount Manhattan CollegeNew York · private nonprofit	$21,880	$35,998	$27,000	123%
4	Fordham UniversityBronx · private nonprofit	$20,381	$35,086	$26,000	128%
5	Pace UniversityNew York · private nonprofit	$19,614	Not reported	$27,000	138%
6	University at BuffaloBuffalo · public	$17,110	Not reported	$20,500	120%
7	American Musical and Dramatic AcademyNew York · private nonprofit	$15,881	Not reported	$27,000	170%
8	JuilliardNew York · private nonprofit	$14,220	Not reported	$27,000	190%
9	SUNY Purchase CollegePurchase · public	$12,039	$21,932	$27,000	224%

SUNY College at Potsdam reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. 3 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every New York dance 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 the 8 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lehman College$27,843
SUNY College at Potsdam$24,094
Marymount Manhattan College$21,880
Fordham University$20,381
Pace University$19,614

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to dance, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Choreographers

$173,100

Median pay in New York. 340 people work in this job in New York. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 600 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $48,470Top 10%: $333,210

Common questions

Lehman College in Bronx reports the highest median first-year pay, $27,843. Its median federal debt is $11,994.

Dance (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked62 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
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 rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the dance bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024