David Geffen Gifts Yale Drama School $150M, Making Tuition Free

NEW HAVEN, CT —In a letter to students, Yale University School of Drama announced Wednesday that the David Geffen Foundation has gifted the school $150 million to ensure that in perpetuity, all drama school degree and certificate students will attend for free.

Beginning with the 2021-2022 academic year, "these programs are now, and always will be, 'tuition free,'" wrote drama school deans James Bundy, Elizabeth Parker Ware, Florie Seery, Chantal Rodriguez and Kelvin Dinkins, Jr.

They called the donation "extraordinary and unprecedented."

"As at any school, the most important question we can ask ourselves is, who comes to learn? Our vision, made possible by Mr. Geffen’s generosity, is of world class graduate theater training that visibly eliminates financial barriers for all prospective students," drama school deans wrote. "We aim to reduce educational debt so that aspiring artists and managers may enter the field with both passion and prudence."

And, in light of Geffen's "generosity, the School will now be called David Geffen School of Drama at Yale."

“It’s an honor to partner with Yale University to create the first tuition-free drama school of its kind in the nation,” Geffen said. He taught a course at Yale in the late 1970s.

“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. Yale already provides some of the best professional training available to actors, writers, directors, designers, and theater managers from diverse backgrounds," Geffen said. "Removing the tuition barrier will allow an even greater diversity of talented people to develop and hone their skills in front of, on, and behind Yale’s stages. I hope this gift will inspire others to support similar efforts to increase accessibility and affordability for arts education at colleges and universities across the country.”

Read the full statement from the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale here.

In a story in the Yale News, it's noted that Yale drama school graduates include actors Meryl Streep, Frances McDormand, Angela Bassett, Paul Giamatti, Lupita Nyong’o, and playwrights David Henry Hwang Lynn Nottage and Tarell Alvin McCraney.

“David Geffen’s visionary generosity ensures that artists of extraordinary potential from all socioeconomic backgrounds will be able to cultivate their talent at Yale,” Yale President Peter Salovey said.

“It is exciting to think about what will be made possible by increasing access to the premier theater education at the David Geffen School of Drama. Our students help drive creativity and innovation across all fields — during their time at Yale and after they graduate," Salovey said. "So, David’s transformative gift will have a ripple effect in our community and around the world. Dean Bundy and I are grateful for the trust David places in Yale through this exceptional commitment, and we hope students from every quarter will see that theater education at Yale is a possibility for them.”

Geffen, "is among the most enterprising and influential figures in American entertainment and a philanthropist whose vigorous support advances health, education, arts and culture, and civil liberties, among other causes," the Yale News wrote.

"For nearly six decades, he has identified and nurtured performers and creative projects that have defined American culture through music, film, and theater. The founder of Asylum Records, Geffen Records, and Geffen Pictures, he also co-founded the film studio DreamWorks SKG with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg. In 2010, Geffen was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2011 the Grammy Salute to Industry Icons honored him with the President’s Merit Award in recognition of his significant contributions to the music industry."

Read more about Geffen in Yale News here.