Yale School of Drama Goes Tuition Free with $150 million gift from David Geffen
Arguably the most prestigious drama school in the country is now going to be tuition-free for current and future students. Yale University’s drama school will no longer pay tuition, thanks to a landmark $150 million gift from entertainment executive and philanthropist David Geffen, the university announced today.
The donation — the largest on record in the history of American theater — makes the school the only institution of its kind to eliminate tuition for all degree and certificate students, removing financial barriers to access.
In recognition of the gift, Yale School of Drama is now the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University. Yale President, Peter Salovey, released the following statement alongside James Bundy, the School’s dean.
“David Geffen’s visionary generosity ensures that artists of extraordinary potential from all socioeconomic backgrounds will be able to cultivate their talent at Yale. It is exciting to think about what will be made possible by increasing access to the premier theater education at the David Geffen School of Drama. Our students help drive creativity and innovation across all fields — during their time at Yale and after they graduate. So, David’s transformative gift will have a ripple effect in our community and around the world. Dean Bundy and I are grateful for the trust David places in Yale through this exceptional commitment, and we hope students from every quarter will see that theater education at Yale is a possibility for them.”
Graduate education in theater at Yale dates to 1925. The Geffen School is the only graduate-level professional conservatory in the English-speaking world to offer training in every theatrical discipline: acting, design, directing, dramaturgy and dramatic criticism, playwriting, stage management, technical design, and production, and theater management. It enrolls about 200 students across 10 distinct degree and certificate programs.
The School’s graduates include actors Meryl Streep ’75 M.F.A., Frances McDormand ’82 M.F.A., Angela Bassett ’83 M.F.A., Paul Giamatti ’89, ’94 M.F.A., and Lupita Nyong’o ’12 M.F.A.; playwrights David Henry Hwang ’83, Lynn Nottage ’89 M.F.A., and Tarell Alvin McCraney ’07 M.F.A.; and former chair of the National Endowment for the Arts Rocco Landesman ’76 D.F.A, among many other luminaries of the arts.
David Geffen
David Geffen is among the most enterprising and influential figures in American entertainment. The founder of Asylum Records, Geffen Records, and Geffen Pictures, he also co-founded the film studio DreamWorks SKG with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg.
“It’s an honor to partner with Yale University to create the first tuition-free drama school of its kind in the nation,” said Geffen. “Yale is well known for having one of the most respected drama programs in the country. So, when they approached me with this opportunity, I knew Yale was the right place to begin to change the way we think about funding arts education. Yale already provides some of the best professional training available to actors, writers, directors, designers, and theater managers from diverse backgrounds. Removing the tuition barrier will allow an even greater diversity of talented people to develop and hone their skills in front of, on, and behind Yale’s stages. I hope this gift will inspire others to support similar efforts to increase accessibility and affordability for arts education at colleges and universities across the country.”
While Geffen never graduated from college, he did teach a course at Yale back in the 1970s. He taught a noncredit seminar on the music industry and arts management at Yale University, where he featured classroom guests such as Jackson Browne and Paul Simon.
The donation comes as a perfectly timed public relations win for Geffen whose relationship with producer Scott Rudin was gaining scrutiny.
Nevertheless, this is a huge win for current and future students of the program. In my opinion, the Yale School of Drama has had a fantastic history of not only training theatrical legends but also being at the forefront of many of the changes I myself am seeking the rest of the theatrical world to take hold.