Musical Theatre & Acting Scholarships for High School Students (2026–2027)
This page lists 30 outside scholarships and competitions for high school students who plan to study musical theatre, acting, or theatre design in college. Awards range from $250 up to a $40,000 four-year scholarship, and state Thespian chapters give out another $200,000 or more each year. Every entry links to the sponsor's official page.
Last updated . Amounts and deadlines change; always confirm with the official sponsor.
30Scholarships Listed
8Open Right Now
$40,000Largest Single Award
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The list below runs by application timing. To browse by type instead, jump from here:
Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative University Scholarships
National competitionsSeniors
Sponsor
American Theatre Wing
Award
$10,000 per year, renewable for four years ($40,000 total)
Who’s eligible
Rising high school seniors from populations historically underrepresented in the theatre industry who demonstrate exceptional talent and financial need. Any theatre discipline qualifies: performance, design, stage management, writing, or administration. A 3.0 GPA is required to renew. Scholars also get an industry mentor.
Disciplines
Musical theatre, Acting, Tech / design, Writing
Residency
US
Selection basis
Audition, Financial need, Merit
Deadline window
Applications for the 2027 cohort are open now (August 2026). Opens around .
Cody Renard Richard, with the Black Theatre Coalition
Award
$10,000 each, plus mentorship seminars and an all-expenses New York trip
Awards per cycle
10
Who’s eligible
Students who identify as Black, Asian, Latinx, Indigenous, or a Person of Color, pursuing stage management, technical theatre, design, playwriting, directing, or theatre management. Performance majors are not eligible. Must be enrolled or intend to enroll full-time at an accredited US college, with a 3.0+ GPA. High school seniors who intend to enroll qualify.
Disciplines
Tech / design, Writing
Residency
US
Citizenship
US citizen
Selection basis
Merit
Deadline window
The 2026/27 application opens in fall 2026. Opens around .
CSSSA Foundation Scholarships (Herb Alpert and Cal Pritner)
Broader performing-arts scholarships
Sponsor
California State Summer School Arts Foundation
Award
$2,500 to $10,000
Who’s eligible
Eligibility runs through attendance at the California State Summer School for the Arts. The Herb Alpert Emerging Young Artists Scholarships award $2,500 to $10,000 (21 awards); the Cal Pritner Theater Scholarship awards up to $10,000.
Cash prizes at the national finals; first place has been around $3,000
Who’s eligible
Grades 9 to 12, open to students of all backgrounds. Free to enter. Students perform original monologues commissioned from more than 31 leading contemporary Black playwrights.
Disciplines
Acting
Residency
US, through host theaters in ten cities
Selection basis
Audition
Deadline window
Regional registration typically opens in fall through host theaters. Opens around .
2026 New Faces honorees received a combined $470,750 in partner-institution scholarships
Who’s eligible
Partner institutions (AMDA, SCAD, and the Norwalk Conservatory, with New York Film Academy support) grant the scholarships; students reach them through the Roger Rees Awards program, which is also a regional feeder for the Jimmy Awards.
Disciplines
Musical theatre
Residency
Greater New York City region
Selection basis
Audition
Deadline window
Registration for 2026-27 opens in September. Opens around .
Deadlines from December through May, including most of the Thespian awards and the big senior-year dates.
Access/VSA Playwright Discovery Program
Identity-based scholarships
Sponsor
The Kennedy Center
Award
No cash award: script development workshops, industry mentorship, and a Kennedy Center summer residency
Who’s eligible
High school students (roughly ages 14 to 19) with disabilities, broadly defined, including chronic illness and neurodivergence. Submit a ten-minute script.
Disciplines
Writing
Residency
US
Selection basis
Portfolio
Deadline window
The 2026-cycle deadline was January 7; expect a similar winter deadline. Closes around .
$1,000 to $2,000; SETC's own pages show the amount inconsistently, so confirm at application
Awards per cycle
1
Who’s eligible
A graduating high school senior entering a college in the SETC region to major in theatre. The only undergraduate-track award on SETC's current roster.
Disciplines
Musical theatre, Acting, Tech / design
Residency
Must attend a college in the SETC region (AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV)
A graduating senior heading into a college musical theatre program. Requires a superior rating at a chapter qualifying event to reach the Thespy finals.
Disciplines
Musical theatre
Residency
US
Membership required
International Thespian Society induction
Selection basis
Audition, Merit
Deadline window
Thespy finalist applications run in April. Opens around ; closes around .
One joint application covers three awards: the Dr. Kenny D. Hasija Scholarship ($1,000, BIPOC graduating seniors), the Mark Drum Scholarship ($1,250, Asian / Pacific Islander seniors and undergraduates), and the Alan D. and Penny Lu Engelsman Scholarship ($1,000, graduating seniors pursuing theatre or a related major).
Disciplines
Musical theatre, Acting, Tech / design, Writing
Residency
US
Membership required
International Thespian Society induction
Selection basis
Merit
Deadline window
The joint application runs February 1 to April 1. Opens around ; closes around .
Princess Grace Foundation, through the Educational Theatre Foundation
Award
$6,000 college awards (five) and $1,000 training awards (five)
Awards per cycle
10
Who’s eligible
Requires a superior rating at a chapter qualifying event to reach the Thespy finals. Five $6,000 college awards come with mentorship; five $1,000 awards fund training.
Disciplines
Musical theatre, Acting
Residency
US
Membership required
International Thespian Society induction
Selection basis
Audition, Merit
Deadline window
Thespy finalist applications run in April. Opens around ; closes around .
$4,000 value each (three awards), applied to the Open Jar Broadway Summer Intensive
Awards per cycle
3
Who’s eligible
Open to any grade. Funds attendance at the Open Jar Broadway Summer Intensive. Requires a superior rating at a chapter qualifying event to reach the Thespy finals.
Disciplines
Musical theatre
Residency
US
Membership required
International Thespian Society induction
Selection basis
Audition
Deadline window
Thespy finalist applications run in April. Opens around ; closes around .
Students of at least 25% Asian and/or Pacific Islander heritage, in performing or visual arts, journalism, or mass communications. High school seniors qualify.
Disciplines
Musical theatre, Acting
Residency
US
Selection basis
Merit, Portfolio
Deadline window
Applications open in January and close around May 31. Opens around ; closes around .
$5,000 to $25,000 total over four years, paid directly to the student's college
Who’s eligible
Students entering performance-based majors, including musical theater BA and BFA programs. The program is dance-rooted, and the awards run through NYCDA's audition and convention circuit, so expect to take part in those events.
Dates for these depend on your region or your state chapter. Check each official page for this year's schedule.
Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative Training Scholarships
Training programs (pre-college)
Sponsor
American Theatre Wing
Award
Covers training program tuition
Who’s eligible
Public middle and high school students from underrepresented populations with financial need. Any theatre discipline. Funds summer intensives and after-school training, not college tuition.
Disciplines
Musical theatre, Acting, Tech / design, Writing
Residency
US
Selection basis
Financial need, Merit
Deadline window
The 2026 round is closed; the next opens with the 2027 cycle.
A cluster of awards: Future Theatre Educator ($1,500, seniors entering theatre education majors), Board of Directors and Presidents' Leadership ($1,000 each), Michael J. Peitz Leadership ($1,500), and Christopher L. Hunt ($1,000, business and marketing).
Disciplines
Musical theatre, Acting, Tech / design, Writing
Residency
US
Membership required
International Thespian Society induction
Selection basis
Merit
Deadline window
See the Educational Theatre Foundation scholarship calendar for dates.
A monologue competition for high schoolers honoring Lorraine Hansberry, Alice Childress, Philip Hayes Dean, and August Wilson, with an outreach and teaching-artist program attached.
Disciplines
Acting
Residency
Los Angeles County
Selection basis
Audition
Deadline window
Inaugural season 2026; watch the official page for dates.
$15,000 first prize at nationals, with additional awards beyond that
Who’s eligible
Ages 16 to 22. Enter through a local NSAL chapter; chapter winners advance to the national competition. The discipline rotates each year, and 2027 is the Drama year.
Disciplines
Acting
Residency
US
Selection basis
Audition, Merit
Deadline window
Chapter competitions feed the national round; check your local chapter for dates.
Full tuition to the Gathered NYC summer intensive, plus an all-expenses New York week
Awards per cycle
8
Who’s eligible
Students ages 12 to 18 from under-resourced districts or households who are BIPOC or hold another identity underrepresented on Broadway. Video audition plus essay.
The Jimmy Awards (National High School Musical Theatre Awards)
National competitions
Sponsor
The Broadway League Foundation
Award
$25,000 to each 2026 winner; secondary awards around $2,000
Awards per cycle
22
Who’s eligible
Qualification runs through roughly 58 regional awards programs. Each region sends a Best Actor and a Best Actress to the New York intensive and the Broadway ceremony.
Disciplines
Musical theatre
Residency
US, through a participating regional awards program
Selection basis
Audition, Merit
Deadline window
Regional programs run during the school year; nationals are in New York each June.
Track these deadlines alongside your audition deadlines.
MyMT Manager tracks 997 schools and 1,734 programs with prescreen requirements, deadline tracking, and calendar sync. Put the whole audition season in one place, and keep scholarship dates beside it.
How much scholarship money is available for musical theatre and acting students?
Individual awards on this page run from $250 to $40,000. The totals are bigger than any single award suggests: The Music Center Spotlight gives out more than $100,000 a year, state Thespian chapters combine for more than $200,000, and the Jimmy Awards program has produced more than $9 million in scholarships since 2009. The single largest award here is the American Theatre Wing's Andrew Lloyd Webber University Scholarship, worth $10,000 a year for four years.
Do I need to be a Thespian member for the EdTA scholarships?
Yes. Every Educational Theatre Foundation scholarship on this page requires induction into the International Thespian Society, and the Thespy-linked awards also require a superior rating at a chapter qualifying event. If your school has a troupe, induction is cheap and opens the whole EdTA list. Without one, look to the national competitions and identity-based awards, which have no membership requirement.
When do the major deadlines fall?
The fall group comes first: YoungArts closes in early October, The Music Center Spotlight closes October 12, 2026, and the Cody Renard Richard and ALW University applications open during the fall. The second group runs through winter and spring: the EdTA joint application is open February 1 to April 1, SETC opens around February, and the Great Khalid and NYCDA Foundation applications are due around May 15. The audition calendar runs on the same clock; see our prescreen deadlines page for the school-by-school dates.
What is the difference between these scholarships and college talent awards?
Everything on this page is portable: an outside organization gives your student the money, and it travels to whatever college they enroll in. College talent awards work the opposite way: an individual school grants them during the audition process, and they apply only at that school. Track both, because they can stack. One hybrid on this list is the Roger Rees Awards' New Faces recognition, where partner institutions grant the money but access runs through the awards program.
Are these scholarships only for performers?
No. Some of the strongest awards here are for tech, design, and writing students. The Cody Renard Richard Scholarship excludes performance majors entirely and funds stage management, design, playwriting, directing, and theatre management. August Wilson New Voices has a set and costume design track, the Thornton Wilder Scholarship is for playwrights, and the ALW University Scholarships cover any theatre discipline, administration included.
Can these scholarships stack with college financial aid?
Usually yes, but the college has the final say. Most schools apply outside scholarships on top of merit aid. Need-based packages are different: colleges must account for outside awards, so a large external scholarship can reduce a need-based grant rather than your family's bill. Ask each financial aid office how it treats outside scholarships before you count the money twice.
Do amounts and deadlines really change year to year?
Yes, constantly. When we re-checked this list in August 2026, two months after the first research pass, one competition had changed hands, another had restructured, one had gone dormant, and one listed award had quietly disappeared from its sponsor's roster. Confirm every amount and deadline on the sponsor's official page before you build plans around it.
What scholarships exist after freshman year?
Scholarships do not stop at enrollment. The Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship auditions at the regional college theatre festivals (ACTF) let enrolled students self-nominate, with all rounds now held in person at the regional festivals. The program describes itself these days as a development opportunity more than a cash competition, and the Kennedy Center is stepping back from the festival, so check your region's festival site for current details.