Graduate Tuition and Financial Aid Information

Graduate Tuition

Graduate tuition for the 2025-2026 academic year $22,497 for Washington State residents and $39,204 for nonresidents and international students (who do not have WA State residency status).

Quarterly tuition rates (Drama grad students are Tier 1, Seattle Campus)
Washington state residency

Department Funding Offers

PLEASE NOTE: These statements serve as statements of our typical funding model, but funding offers are determined year-to-year for a given admissions cycle, based on the funds made available to the department by the College of Arts and Sciences.

For M.F.A. in Acting, Design, and Directing Students

The School of Drama has a limited number of scholarships, fellowships, graduate assistantships and teaching assistantships available. All students who are admitted into the program are automatically considered for assistance. We generally fund our MFA students through a combination of fellowships and academic student employee assignments (for example, teaching assistantships or production staff assistantships). In the past, the department has endeavored to fund, in some way, at least seven of the eight quarters in the program. However, funding offers are dependent on the funding available to the department on a yearly basis.

Fellowships come with a monthly stipend and a waiver of out-of-state tuition, so a student is only responsible for the costs of in-state tuition while on a fellowship quarter. ASE (academic student employee) assignments (generally in the form of teaching assistantships) come with a monthly stipend, tuition waiver and insurance for the quarter.

For Ph.D. in Theatre History and Performance Studies Students

The School of Drama generally provides funding for four years of a PhD student's program. Funding for PhD students comes primarily through Academic Student Employee (ASE) appointments such as Teaching and Research Assistantships. Students receive additional funding for research and travel during their time in the program. A limited number of additional scholarships and fellowships are also available.

Filing the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid)

The University of Washington Office of Student Financial Aid administers need-based federal, state and private financial aid programs. The University requires students who are applying for aid to file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA is available from the UW's Office of Student Financial Aid or from other college and university financial aid offices. (For Step 6 the University's code is 003798.) The UW financial aid priority filing date is January 15.

We recommend the FAFSA be submitted by the deadline, even though an applicant will not know whether an offer of admission will be made. For additional information, contact:

UW Office of Student Financial Aid
(206)543-6101 osfa@u.washington.edu
www.washington.edu/students/osfa

Additional Graduate Funding

The Fellowship and Assistantship Division of the Graduate School offers information on funding resources for graduate students.