Which Ohio theatre program has the lowest debt?

Ohio University reports the lowest median federal debt, $22,750, with first-year pay of $15,602.

How much do theatre graduates earn in Ohio?

The median across 13 Ohio theatre bachelor's programs is $21,685 in the first year after graduating and $33,877 five years after.

How many theatre bachelor's programs are in Ohio?

13 Ohio programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 9 of them also report federal debt.

Theatre (Bachelor's) Programs in Ohio, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

13 programs report first-year pay
9 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Ohio theatre bachelor's program pays its graduates $21,685 in their first year, $870 more than the national median. University of Cincinnati reports the highest first-year pay ($25,070), and Ohio University the lowest median debt ($22,750).

Median first-year pay$21,685National $20,815

Median pay after 5 years$33,877National $34,512

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

Debt-to-earnings139%National 115%

All 13 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	University of CincinnatiCincinnati · public	$25,070	$35,509	$25,980	104%
2	Youngstown StateYoungstown · public	$24,933	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
3	Kent StateKent · public	$24,565	$30,381	$26,000	106%
4	Ohio StateColumbus · public	$23,920	$38,039	$25,250	106%
5	Miami UniversityOxford · public	$22,434	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
6	Bowling Green StateBowling Green · public	$21,900	$31,649	$25,250	115%
7	University of ToledoToledo · public	$21,685	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
8	Ohio Northern UniversityAda · private nonprofit	$19,167	Not reported	$27,000	141%
9	Wright StateDayton · public	$18,666	$32,244	$26,000	139%
10	Baldwin Wallace UniversityBerea · private nonprofit	$16,055	$30,751	$27,000	168%
11	Ohio UniversityAthens · public	$15,602	$35,540	$22,750	146%
12	Otterbein UniversityWesterville · private nonprofit	$12,546	$37,633	$26,822	214%
13	Oberlin CollegeOberlin · private nonprofit	$12,441	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported

Youngstown State, Miami University, University of Toledo, and Oberlin College report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Ohio theatre program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Ohio medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 9 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

University of Cincinnati$25,070
Youngstown State$24,933
Kent State$24,565
Ohio State$23,920
Miami University$22,434

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 theatre, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Producers and Directors

$69,350

Median pay in Ohio. 1,610 people work in this job in Ohio. 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.

Bottom 10%: $44,950Top 10%: $122,450

Writers and Authors

$65,930

Median pay in Ohio. 830 people work in this job in Ohio. 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.

Bottom 10%: $40,190Top 10%: $101,710

Common questions

University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati reports the highest median first-year pay, $25,070. Its median federal debt is $25,980.

Theatre (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked257 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 Ohio rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the theatre 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