What Does Juilliard’s Plan to Go Tuition-Free Mean for Its Dance Program?
The financial challenges of becoming a dance artist today can be frightfully numerous. But in the next few years, student loan debt—and college tuition in general—may no longer be of concern for the students of The Juilliard School’s prestigious dance division, as the institution has announced its intentions to go tuition-free with the launch of a $550 million fundraising drive.
The timeline for when, exactly, this plan will take effect is unclear, and will depend on when fundraising goals are met. (As of the announcement, the school had already received $180 million towards the effort.) Damian Woetzel, the school’s president and a former New York City Ballet star, says that the initiative is part of ongoing work at Juilliard: Some programs, such as the graduate acting track, are already tuition-free, and 29 percent of all students paid no tuition during the 2024–25 academic year.
“We’ve seen what happens in the other programs that are tuition-free,” says Woetzel. “The applications go up, the sense of opportunity and the range goes wider, and you end up with a glorious pool of talent. I’ve always felt very strongly that art is a public good, and this makes good on that.”
The number of tuition-free students will continue to increase on a rolling basis across all of Juilliard. “We’re looking at a multiyear campaign, and there are different ways that can happen,” says Woetzel. “It might be a gift that’s just about dance, or that the whole school is benefiting from fundraising and the rate of scholarship goes up piece by piece.”
Woetzel says that his own experience growing up in ballet has shaped his perspective on this initiative. “I had a scholarship from the first class I took, because they needed boys, so I understand that path,” he says. “The idea of the world’s greatest conservatory being tuition-free says something about the art itself. It’s the ultimate anti-elitist statement. It’s about developing talent, it’s about creativity, it’s about the barriers to entry, but it’s also about making sure you’re not saddled with debt when you leave.”
Other big changes are afoot at the school’s dance division: In July, lauded former Merce Cunningham dancer Melissa Toogood took over as the program’s dean, following the departure of Alicia Graf Mack to lead Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Additionally, faculty member Mario Alberto Zambrano will take on the role of associate dean and director of the division; former Pacific Northwest Ballet star Carla Körbes will join the faculty as ballet chair; and choreographer and former Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater standout Jamar Roberts will become the program’s Arnhold Creative Associate at Large, among other new appointments for the fall semester.
“Melissa is one of the most curious people I know,” says Woetzel. “She wants to know about everything; she loves all forms of dance—she’s an omnivore. She wants students to have that breadth of knowledge as well as expertise in a certain lane that can be expanded upon, which is very much the theory of education here.”
Now, Woetzel hopes more students will have access to that unparalleled dance education. “So many more people can see it as a possibility,” he says. “That’s really key—the idea that someone would think it’s not possible because of money is absolutely unacceptable. Culture is what binds us, and it can’t just be culture for those who can afford it.”