| Rise in applicants at Art and Drama schools
Zeynep Pamuk
Rise in applicants at Art and Drama schools
Zeynep Pamuk 12:00 am, Apr 22, 2009
The economic climate also led to a rise in the number of applicants at the Yale School of Drama and the School of Art.
The School of Drama accepted 69 of its 1,281 applications — a 5.4 percent acceptance rate — citing its ability to offer generous financial aid as another explanation for the upward trend in numbers.
"The financial aid picture has improved considerably during Dean [James] Bundy's tenure," Associate Dean of the School of Drama Joan Channick DRA '89 wrote in an e-mail to the News. "While School of Drama students used to graduate with heavy indebtedness, today a typical student's financial aid package means that they can graduate from the School of Drama with only $6,000 in student loans."
Channick added that School of Drama admissions were also affected by the economic downturn, which creates an incentive for artists to continue professional training until the conditions of the job market improve.
The School of Art deadline for accepting admissions offers is April 27, but the school received 1,289 applicants, its highest number of applicants, with a 12 percent increase from last year.
"As the economy tanks, young people seek refuge in institutes of higher learning for a variety of reasons, some obvious, other less so," Associate Dean of the School of Art Samuel Messer said in an interview with the News last January.