Yale School of Drama Eliminates Tuition for All Returning and Future Students After $150 Million Gift From David Geffen

Yale School of Drama has announced that they will stop charging tuition after receiving a $150 million gift from David Geffen. Beginning in August, tuition will be eliminated for all returning and future students in its masters, doctoral and certificate programs. Yearly tuition at the school had been $32,800.

Read the New York Times story HERE.

James Bundy, the drama school dean shared:

"We know, because people have told us, that there are potential applicants out there who think they could never afford graduate theater training at an Ivy League school," He continued to say, "By reducing the debt burden of the average student, we create more resilient artists and managers who are able to make braver artistic choices - they're able to take that downtown play and they don't have to have a career selling real estate on the side... Not every artist is going to break through at the age of 25 or 26 or 27. Certain kinds of careers take time to build, and entering the professions with less debt is going to make for more interesting and more resounding choices in the long run."

Yale School of Drama is now the second program at Yale to eliminate tuition after the Yale School of Music eliminated tuition in 2005.

Entertainment industry tycoon David Geffen had previously given $150 million to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, $100 million to Lincoln Center, and $100 million to the Museum of Modern Art.

Read the full story HERE.