Theatre & Dance Scholarship Opportunities

Scholarship Opportunities

College is expensive, no doubt about it.  There are three levels of scholarship opportunity for Theatre & Dance students that might help ease the pain. 

University Scholarships and Financial Aid

Western Kentucky University offers a wide-array of scholarships, awards and loans.  The WKU Office of Financial Aid should be your first stop in pursuing financial aid.  

Students of WKU should also check the Office of Scholar Development for opportunities to support their research, travel, and creative endeavors.

College-Wide Scholarships

Potter College of Arts and Letters offers a limited number of scholarships to incoming freshmen who have successfully completed the Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts program.   These come in two varieties, full tuition and half tuition.  They are offered to students planning to major in Dance, Theatre, Performing Arts, Music, Art, Creative Writing, and New Media. These scholarships are renewed annually, if you maintain suitable progress and follow department policy.  Awards are applied to the cost of in-state tuition.

Please note that there are a limited number of these scholarship available each year and they are not automatically given.   In order to be eligible for consideration, a completed application must be received to the Dean’s Office of Potter College of Arts & Letters by January 15th.  Incomplete applications  will not be considered.  A minimum high school GPA of  2.5+ and an ACT composite score of 20+ (or SAT score of 930+) are required to apply. 

For further instructions on auditioning or interviewing for a GSA Scholarship through the Department of Theatre & Dance please visit our GSA Audition/Interview page.

Visit the Potter College of Arts and Letters GSA Scholarship application page for an application and complete information. 

Theatre & Dance Departmental Scholarships

At the departmental level, we administer 15 merit-based scholarships funds.  We award about 20 to 25 individual scholarships, ranging in size from $150 to $1000.  These typically go to students who have been in the program at least one year.  Students apply in February and the department faculty select the recipients in March.  Rather than apply for any specific scholarships listed below, students make a general application for support.  The department faculty then choose the appropriate fund for each student selected.  See the application for further details. 

Theatre & Dance Scholarship Application (.pdf)
Theatre & Dance Scholarship Application (.doc)

Department of Theatre & Dance scholarship funds:

The Mrs. T.C. Cherry Scholarship

The O.V. Clark Scholarship

The Colonel Oscar Payne Cleaver Scholarship

The James Brown Scholarship

The D. Whitney Combs Scholarship

The Jackson Kesler Costuming Scholarship

The Jerry Baker Scholarship

The William Leonard Scholarship

The Russell H. Miller Scholarship

The Dance Educators Scholarship

The Joseph Levinoff Dance Scholarship

The Jack E. Lunt Dance Scholarship

The Jeffrey Mildenstein Dance Scholarship

The Doris Owens Dance Scholarship

The Beverly Veenker Dance Scholarship