Full Tuition Waivers Plus
All MFA in Theatre candidates at UTK receive exceptional financial support. All MFA students in Acting receive full tuition waivers plus Graduate Teaching Assistantship (GTA) stipends throughout their training. All receive virtually equal stipends, with amounts varying only slightly according to differences in funding sources.
We are proud of the funding we offer graduates to enable them to focus on their training, and we believe that equal support creates the best basis for collaboration and artistic growth.
The most recent funding per student per year is approximately:
- Out of State Tuition Remission: An approximate value of $31,978 per year
- Graduate Teaching Assistantships: Approximately $21,000 per year
(9-month assistantships disbursed over 12 months) - Average Additional Scholarships: $1000-$1200 per year in 2nd and 3rd Years
- Health Insurance: All UTK Theatre MFA students are covered under UTK health insurance at no additional cost.
- Approximate Total Funding Per Year: $54,000
- Approximate Funding Per Three Years: $162,000
The Graduate Teaching Assistantship represents actual employment by the University of Tennessee. As a GTA, your primary responsibility will be assigned acting and understudy roles in the Clarence Brown Theatre season. Additional duties may include: teaching assistant, teaching, and advisor research support. Each semester, work hours will be carried out in various ways according to the needs of the department and productions in the Clarence Brown Theatre. We take care to ensure that job duties do not detract from but are in support of training objectives.
Additional Funding:
- Additional fellowships are available through the Graduate School on a competitive basis. Fellowships range from $5,000 to $15,000.
- $2,500 Marian Brown Career Development Fellowships are awarded to two students in each MFA acting class in their final semester of training.
*All figures are approximate.
“We do on stage things that are supposed to happen off. Which is a kind of integrity, if you look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else.”
—Tom Stoppard