Acting BFA
- Major
- BFA
- In-Person
- Greeley
4 Years
Spring, Summer or Fall Semester
Places, Please, Everyone: Upcoming Auditions!
Audition or interview for the College of Performing & Visual Arts on campus, off campus, by video, and at national, unified audition sites. Our audition season runs October to March.
Acting BFA Overview
The entertainment industry looks to UNC for new, up-and-coming performers. Our program helps you develop your talent, and we put you in a position to get noticed.
Master your craft in an intensive, professionally focused program. Train in small classes that promote strong relationships with faculty and develop your potential.
It’s not just practice. It’s preparation.
Here, you’ll immerse yourself completely in acting. Learn advanced techniques for stage and camera. Perform on professional stages with industry-standard lighting, sound, sets, and costumes that mirror what you’ll encounter in your career.
Selective. Rigorous. Transformative.
We recruit exceptional talent nationally, and our selective admissions process ensures you’re surrounded by artists as committed as you are. If you’re ready to push yourself and discover what you’re truly capable of, UNC is where you belong.
- Sequential training in acting, voice, speech and movement
- Mentor-based teaching focused on your strengths
- Faculty with years of industry experience and national connections
- Master classes with award-winning guest artists
- Annual showcase for Los Angeles agents, casting directors and other reps
120 credits in 3 areas:
Liberal Arts Curriculum: 31 credits
- Written Communication: 6 credits
- Mathematics: 3 credits
- Arts & Humanities, History, Social & Behavioral Sciences, U.S. Multicultural Studies [MS], and International Studies [IS]: 15 credits
- Natural & Physical Sciences: 7 credits
Acting Major Courses: 70 credits
- Required coursework: 58 credits
- Repeatable/variable courses: 12 credits
University-Wide Credits: 19 credits
- Complete additional credits to achieve the minimum credits needed for this degree at UNC; for this degree that will typically be 19-25 credits.
View full requirements for the BFA in Acting in the UNC Catalog.
We encourage all BFA Acting majors to take elective credits and/or complete minors or enroll in certificate programs that relate to your major field.
Examples include the Arts Entrepreneurship Certificate, Dance Minor, Film Studies Minor, and/or other theatre, performing and visual arts, music or dance courses.
This 4-year plan is a recommended schedule to complete this bachelor’s degree in 4 years. Courses are subject to availability. Consult with your advisor for additional graduation requirements and the order in which to take courses.
Year 1: 29 credits
- Fall Semester: 15
- Spring Semester: 14
Year 2: 29 credits
- Fall Semester: 15
- Spring Semester: 14
Year 3: 31 credits
- Fall Semester: 15
- Spring Semester: 16
Year 4: 31 credits
- Fall Semester: 16
- Spring Semester: 15
You’re On Stage from the Start
From day one, you’re auditioning for roles in our 30+ annual productions. Join student-led theatre groups exploring everything from Shakespeare to original one-acts to improv comedy. Work alongside professional artists at our renowned summer stock company, The Little Theatre of the Rockies. And in your senior year, showcase your talent directly to industry professionals who can help launch your career.
UNC opens doors to Hollywood, Broadway and spotlights in between. Join us — and grow into who you are.
At UNC, You'll Be in the Spotlight
Main stage productions each year
Broadway, Off-Broadway, one-acts, stage readings, and so much more
Student-run theatre groups
Everything from improv to Shakespeare
Scholarships
For performing and visual arts students each year. And $485,000 Scholarships for Theatre majors each year!
Standing Ovations
Alumni
“As an audience member, you get an energy from the people on stage. It's just very communal and community based, and to feel the presence of everyone in the room and together with the audience, you're creating a story and it just it's an energy and it feels great.”
Hannah Jobman ’24
BFA. in Theatre Arts, Acting Concentration
Assistant Director/Choreographer at Jeanette Airen Performing Arts Studio
Intensive Training for Working Actors
Our BFA in Acting is rigorous, pre-professional training designed to launch your career in theatre, film and television. Through intensive study of acting, voice, speech and movement, you’ll push beyond what you thought possible — and discover the artist you’re meant to become.
Admission to the Acting BFA program requires additional steps beyond the UNC application. Be sure to choose theatre as your primary area of interest on your application.
Step 1: Apply to UNC using the Bear App or Common App
Step 2: Complete the College of Performing and Visual Arts (PVA) Audition Form and submit materials in the UNC application portal
Step 3: Audition/interview for your program
Additional Application Materials
- Contact information for two references
- Photo/headshot (optional)
- Video introduction (optional)
Interested in more than one program? You can indicate those choices on your College of Performing and Visual Arts (PVA) Audition Form as well.
In addition to submitting an application in the UNC Application Portal, you need to prepare contrasting monologues to perform either in person or on video.
Live auditions
- Prepare three monologues: two contrasting monologues not to exceed two minutes combined, and an additional one-minute contrasting monologue.
- You’re required to perform their two contrasting monologues and may be asked to perform the third
- Location options include on campus, by video and at various locations across the country.
Video auditions
- Prepare two contrasting monologues not to exceed two minutes total.
- Be sure to state/introduce yourself and your monologues in your audition video. This is not included in your 2-minute time limit.
Our BFA Acting degree offers sequential training in acting, voice and speech and movement over a four-year period.
- In your first year, you’ll explore your imagination and master fundamental skills such as working from self and learning to play objectives
- In your second year, you’ll begin to deepen your skills through advanced scene work and movement classes that emphasize the physical life of characters
- In your third year, you’ll take on more challenging styles of acting, performing the works of Chekhov, Shaw, Morrisseau and other notable playwrights
- In your fourth year, you’ll start to bridge your training into professional productions with classes on audition techniques, acting business and acting on camera
Capstone Course
Your capstone course, Acting Senior Showcase, connects you directly with studio executives, talent managers and working actors through master classes. This course culminates with showcase performances, which are viewed by agents and casting directors.
In addition to completing UNC’s liberal arts curriculum, you study:
- Acting
- Voice and speech
- Playscript analysis
- Stage movement
- Theatre improvisation
- Theatre history
- Stage make-up
- Advanced acting styles
- Acting for the camera
You also have many opportunities both inside and outside the classroom to perform for classmates and larger audiences.
The College of Performing and Visual Arts awards over $1.8 million in student scholarships. Several types of awards are available, including talent scholarships and foundation scholarships.
Interested in changing your major to the Acting BFA? You can apply and audition if you’re in your freshman year at UNC.
- For current students who have not yet applied or been admitted to the School of Theatre Arts & Dance
- Apply fall or spring semester of your freshman year
- All students interested in a theatre major must apply and audition for the School of Theatre Arts & Dance
- A minor in theatre or dance does not require an audition
Center Stage
The Little Theatre of the Rockies
UNC is home to The Little Theatre of the Rockies—the oldest professional summer stock theatre company in the Western United States. Each summer, this professional company stages three full productions, drawing actors, directors and designers from across the region and the country.
Famed alum Jason Veasey returns to perform in a Little Theatre of the Rockies outdoor production
Arts at UNC
You work with exceptional faculty who are active in the theatre industry and have broad professional networks.
The UNC School of Theatre Arts and Dance is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST).
To nurture a community where passion and aptitude are transformed into the professional skills that create the foundation for a meaningful career in the arts and beyond.
Have questions? We're here to help!
- PVA@unco.edu
- (970) 351-2993
- Frasier Hall