Yale Drama goes tuition-free with $150 million gift from David Geffen
David Geffen. Photo: Bruce Weber
by Michael Paulson
(NYT NEWS SERVICE)
.- Billionaire David Geffen is giving $150 million to Yale School of Drama, allowing one of the nations most prestigious programs to stop charging tuition.
The graduate school, which enrolls about 200 students in programs that include acting, design, directing and playwriting, announced the gift Wednesday, and said it would rename itself the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University.
Yale said it believes the gift is the largest in the history of American theater.
The school said that, starting in August, it would eliminate tuition for all returning and future students in its masters, doctoral and certificate programs. Tuition at the school had been $32,800 per year.