
Whether you want to study improv at the famed Second City (like Tina Fey and Keegan-Michael Key) or earn a four-year degree from a renowned university, there’s no shortage of opportunities to study acting in the Windy City.
Here are some of the city’s best-regarded acting schools, each with its own training methodology and advantages for anyone hoping to become an actor in Chicago.
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Founded in 1981, Acting Studio Chicago provides programs for both adult and youth students. The school grounds its training in the 12 Guideposts, based on the book “Audition” by Michael Shurtleff.
Its classes cover a variety of mediums and topics, including its Core Acting Program for beginners; intermediate and advanced acting options; and targeted workshops for on-camera acting, auditioning, voiceover, and movement.
Students can also take advantage of its complimentary online acting resources, which include:
- Free books and articles to improve your craft
- Advice from agents, casting directors, and union members on navigating the business
- Open audition sites
- Webinars and guides to help you with headshots, résumés, and finding representation
Acting Studio Chicago’s classes typically run from four to eight weeks. The cost varies depending on the training provided and the length of the course, but in general you can expect to pay between $300 and $500.
Apply to the Acting Studio Chicago online; its advanced courses require you to submit a headshot and résumé for approval. Acting Studio Chicago offers both in-person and online classes.
Though newer among the acting schools in Chicago, Black Box Acting has quickly gained attention for its accelerated training.
Black Box Acting’s premier program is the ACADEMY, a rigorous five-month course that combines the Meisner technique and Viewpoints with study of text analysis, classics, and TV and film training. Students of the ACADEMY are guaranteed a digital graduate showcase in front of “300+ local and national agents, managers, casting directors, and other industry professionals across media.” Tuition is $9,000, and the school offers extended payment plans and scholarships.
The history of CAS dates back to the 1940s, making this one of the oldest acting schools in the city outside of collegiate institutions. Its core program is Acting as a Craft, an eight-week, $349 workshop that focuses on scene study, cold reads, script analysis, monologues, the Meisner technique, improv, and sense memory.
Other programs CAS offers include:
- On-Camera Auditioning ($345)
- The Method International—Method Acting Intensive Series ($475)
- Acting in Film—Advanced On-Camera Acting ($595)
If you’re just starting your career, CAS may be a good fit, since it doesn’t require auditions for its beginner classes. Students can also split tuition fees into multiple payments, and you will have access to internship and scholarship programs.
Columbia College Chicago is an arts institution with multiple offerings for its acting students, including undergraduate B.A. and BFA programs in Acting for Stage and Screen.
The programs at Columbia provide a diverse training ground with classes that explore international performance styles—not to mention one of the only stage combat programs in the country.
Application requirements vary according to your current status:
- Freshmen and transfer students: Transcripts, a writing sample that “outlines your goals for your enrollment at Columbia College Chicago,” a portfolio or audition (BFA students only), and an application fee of $25
- Returning students: Transcripts and a meeting with an adviser
- Non-degree-seeking students: Transcripts and an application fee of $25 (domestic undergraduate), $60 (domestic graduate), or $75 (international undergraduate or graduate)
- Second bachelor’s degree students: Transcripts and an application fee of $25
For full-time undergraduate students, the 2024–2025 tuition is $34,088.
Prospective students looking for acting schools in Chicago with degree options should also consider DePaul University, which offers a BFA in Acting.
This four-year program provides a comprehensive array of course requirements to prepare students for a career in front of the camera or onstage. Students taking acting classes here can expect to learn about a wide range of acting styles, such as Grotowski, Spolin, Stanislavsky, and Suzuki.
As a first-year student, you’ll immerse yourself in 101-level topics such as acting, movement, and history of dramatic literature, before moving on to targeted courses, such as stage combat, makeup, and improvisation. Senior-year students at DePaul participate in a graduate showcase.
Tuition for the Theatre School costs $46,605 for the 2024–2025 academic year.
While it doesn’t provide a traditional degree, the Green Room Studio offers several selling points for potential students. Many of the studio’s instructors are casting professionals who can offer an informed perspective on what the industry wants from performers.
This school takes a multifaceted approach to its training and doesn’t rely on a single style such as the Meisner technique or Method. Instead, the Green Room Studio focuses on providing the relevant tools that will prepare students for the demands of onscreen acting.
The Green Room Studio provides screen acting as well as voice acting classes for adult and youth students, offered in-person and online. The studio also has an online network called The Practice, which provides accountability for its members with regular assignments, peer reviews, and community access for $49 a month.
A traditional eight-week course costs $495. For a two-day workshop, the fee is $325.
Green Shirt Studio offers a multitiered training program featuring acting classes that build upon each other. Students with any amount of experience can join Green Shirt Studio’s Level 1 classes; eligibility for Levels 2–5 requires completion of the previous courses. Topics include:
- Level 1: Living Truthfully. This introductory class provides students with exercises that promote spontaneous, “in the moment” performances guided by emotion and impulse.
- Level 2: Under Imaginary Circumstances. Students lean into their imagination and further develop spontaneity while working on memorized pieces.
- Level 3: Emotional Preparation. Students focus on harnessing emotional truth and range in performance.
- Level 4: Doing the Work. Using the previous levels as building blocks, this class explores monologue and two-person scene work with particular attention put on script analysis.
- Level 5: Process to Performance. This is the culmination of the previous levels; it helps students take the tools learned in the classroom into the real world.
The eight-week courses based on the Meisner technique each cost $345. Green Shirt Studio also provides in-person and online workshops and private coaching lessons for around $80 per hour, during which you can focus on subjects like auditioning, monologues, storytelling, vocal training, and professional development.
Once accepted into Roosevelt University’s BFA in Acting program, you’ll join the Theatre Conservatory of the Chicago College of Performing Arts (CCPA). All members are guaranteed onstage performance experience and credit while attending Roosevelt University.
Roosevelt students are introduced to a variety of training approaches, including body technique, circus arts, Linklater Voice, on-camera technique, period styles, stage combat, Stanislavsky, and Viewpoints. Dance and voice classes round out their training. Additionally, Roosevelt helps students find internships at local theaters, such as the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Goodman Theatre, and Steppenwolf Theatre.
To qualify for an audition, prospective students must submit an application, slate video, and two 60- to 90-second monologues from the 20th or 21st centuries. Tuition for the 2024–2025 academic year is $30,450.
The Second City is a legendary comedy institution that counts Dan Aykroyd, Tina Fey, and Bill Murray as alums. Among the many acting schools in Chicago, the Second City is renowned for its improv classes, but it also offers acting courses and workshops on standup, physical comedy, dialect and character creation, voiceover, and hosting.
Given its association with improv, it’s no surprise that the school roots its acting classes in this technique, with no script usage at all. In its improv classes, Second City strives to create “a supportive environment that embraces the idea of trusting yourself and failing joyfully.”
Adults and youth students can choose in-person, online, and on-demand classes, which cost between $200 and $500. Those who have taken at least one year of improv training (or equivalent) at Second City are eligible to audition for the Conservatory, which is free.
UIC offers both a B.A. in Theatre & Performance and a BFA in Acting. To give an idea of what you’d study, UIC created a sample course schedule, which includes:
- Theatre History 1: Premodern Drama
- Movement 1: Body/Self
- Introduction to Acting 1
- Practicum in Theater: Run Crew
- Academic Writing I: Writing in Academic and Public Contexts
Similar to Columbia, DePaul, and Roosevelt, students at UIC can expect to examine a variety of different acting styles while pursuing their degrees. Classes include the study of Brecht, Ibsen, Stanislavsky, and Viewpoints.
Since UIC is a state school, price depends on your residency status. For the 2024–2025 academic year, tuition for an Illinois resident is $11,187. For an out-of-state student, that number increases to $26,724.
This self-proclaimed “most comprehensive on-camera acting program in Chicago” not only teaches performance, but also builds a tight-knit group and gives back to the Chicago area.
Vagabond’s in-person course options include on-camera, theater, voice work, and the business of acting. Each class runs for six to eight weeks and costs approximately $375. The school also has workshop and intensive options from one day to four session units ranging from $200 to $400, as well as a four-month Acting for Film Conservatory running at $7,500.
There are plenty of acting schools in Chicago, which means there is a training space for everyone who wants to perform. Evaluate, compare, and visit a few to determine which school could be your own career launchpad.