Yale University’s drama school will no longer charge tuition to its students after receiving a $150 million gift from billionaire David Geffen.
The donation is the largest ever given to an American theatre company, and the school will be renamed in honor of Geffen, the university announced on Wednesday.
“David Geffen’s visionary generosity ensures that artists of extraordinary potential from all socioeconomic backgrounds will be able to cultivate their talent at Yale,” university President Peter Salovey said.
Geffen, 78, has a net worth of $10.2 billion, according to Forbes. A college dropout, he is the owner of multiple record labels and the movie studio DreamWorks. Geffen gave a donation of the same amount to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2017.
“It’s an honor to partner with Yale University to create the first tuition-free drama school of its kind in the nation. 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,” Geffen said.
The school, founded in 1925, offers graduate-level instruction in all areas of theatre, including acting, directing, writing, and design, the only educational institution in the English-speaking world to do so.
“Full tuition support of our training will help us attract talent from the broadest possible spectrum of potential applicants, and it sends a clear message that Yale is a place where a stimulating mix of gifted students can devote their energies first and foremost to artistry. This will lead to a fuller representation of our society in every aspect of professional practice,” the drama school dean, James Bundy, said.
There are currently 200 students enrolled in the David Geffen School of Drama. Due to the pandemic, the school did not admit a new class of freshmen for the fall of 2021, so the first class to receive a completely tuition-free education will be those enrolled for fall 2022. Returning students will receive the remainder of their education for free.
Alumni of Yale’s School of Drama include Paul Giamatti, Lupita Nyong’o, and Meryl Streep.
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Yale University did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
