Trump’s Accreditation Order Puts College Theatre Programs in Jeopardy

President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday aimed at overhauling the college accreditation process. (Scripps News)

by Chris Peterson, OnStage Blog Founder

There’s a story making the rounds this week that’s not getting nearly enough attention — and if you care about the future of theatre education in this country, it should stop you in your tracks.

On Tuesday, Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at shaking up the college accreditation process. The headlines say it’s about cutting red tape and increasing innovation. But for the theatre programs embedded in colleges and universities — especially the smaller, more specialized ones — this could be a disaster.

The order encourages the Department of Education to crack down on existing accreditors and fast-track new ones. In theory, that might create more options. But in reality, it could lead to a messy patchwork of standards where quality becomes impossible to measure and credibility gets thrown out the window.

Accreditation is what allows theatre programs to receive federal funding, to recruit students, and to maintain any kind of national reputation. Without it, these programs — often already underfunded and fighting for legitimacy — could be the first on the chopping block.

It’s not just a technical issue. It’s a cultural one. The order also calls for removing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives from accreditation criteria — a move that feels especially cruel in theatre, where representation, identity, and storytelling are inseparable. Theatre programs have been doing the hard work of building more inclusive spaces, casting more thoughtfully, programming more intentionally. Stripping away DEI incentives only makes that work harder.

I’ve seen it over and over again: theatre students finding their people, finding their purpose, finding their voice — often in programs most people haven’t heard of. Not everyone is going to Juilliard or NYU. Plenty of working actors, designers, directors, and playwrights come from state schools, liberal arts colleges, and regional universities that are doing the work, day in and day out, with far less fanfare.

If this executive order leads to those programs losing accreditation — or becoming tied to new accrediting bodies that aren’t recognized — students lose access to financial aid. Enrollment drops. Departments shrink. And slowly but surely, theatre programs that have been quietly shaping generations of artists begin to disappear.

And it won’t just hurt students. Local theatre scenes, summer stocks, regional tours — they all depend on these programs as pipelines for fresh talent. Weakening them weakens the entire ecosystem. If we pull the rug out now, we’ll feel the impact for years.

And look, I get that the higher education system needs work. I’m not defending the status quo across the board. But if the solution to reform is to gut the protections that help theatre programs stay funded and respected, then we’ve lost the plot.

This isn’t just education policy. It’s about whether or not we value the spaces where future storytellers are trained. Theatre programs aren’t just electives — they’re cultural engines. And when accreditation becomes a political tool, the stage goes dark for too many of them.