The Central Academy of Drama

Key Highlights

• Public higher-education institution directly affiliated with China’s Ministry of Education
• Current Academy founded in 1950, with institutional roots extending to 1938
• Active 2026 recruitment at bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels
• Specialist focus on theatre, film, television, performance, design, and related scholarship

Student Life & Environment

Student life is closely tied to rehearsals, productions, workshops, screenings, and performances. Official campus information identifies theatres, teaching buildings, production facilities, libraries, a gymnasium, dining facilities, and student residences across the Academy’s two campuses. This creates an environment oriented more toward collaborative artistic work than toward the broad club and varsity-sport range of a comprehensive university. The Changping campus is the principal arrival location shown in the Academy’s report on its 2025 undergraduate intake. New students completed registration in the gymnasium and used the residence and dining areas there. The Dongcheng campus also contains teaching, performance, library, and residential facilities. Campus assignment may therefore affect daily routines and access to particular spaces. International-student housing information published in 2024 describes double rooms at both campuses with furniture, air conditioning, heating, a private bathroom, shower, and Wi-Fi. The Changping international residence additionally lists shared refrigerators, laundry, kitchens, and an activity room. These descriptions apply specifically to international accommodation and should not be assumed to represent every domestic residence. Applicants should confirm availability, allocation rules, and current charges before planning around campus housing.

Location & Surroundings

The Academy operates two campuses in Beijing. The Dongcheng campus is at 39 Dongmianhua Hutong in a historic central district associated with hutong neighborhoods and established cultural venues. Its urban setting can offer convenient exposure to Beijing’s theatre, museum, and arts ecosystem, although students should account for the density and higher everyday costs typical of central Beijing. The Changping campus is at 4 Hongfu Middle Road in Changping District, north of central Beijing. Official descriptions of the purpose-built campus list performance and directing classrooms, film and television facilities, stage-design spaces, a library, gymnasium, theatres, production facilities, international accommodation, student residences, and support buildings. It is materially larger and more self-contained than the Dongcheng site. The distance and differing urban contexts make campus assignment decision-relevant. Applicants should verify where their department, year group, rehearsals, and housing will be based and should not plan a daily central-Beijing routine solely from the institution’s city listing. The official admissions pages publish both campus addresses and a central contact channel.

Costs & Career Outcomes

Costs differ substantially by applicant category and degree level. The Academy’s international-student fee page, updated in March 2025, lists annual tuition of CNY 36,000 for bachelor’s study, CNY 42,000 for master’s study, and CNY 46,000 for doctoral study, plus a CNY 480 application fee. It states that these tuition figures are nonrefundable when a student withdraws for reasons not attributable to the Academy. Because the page predates the 2026/27 academic year, applicants should confirm that the schedule remains applicable before paying. The same official page lists international double-room accommodation at CNY 60 per bed per day on either campus, with CNY 6,660 collected for a standard spring or autumn period and actual-day charging during vacations or for mid-semester entry. It says this housing schedule took effect on 3 July 2023. International students studying for at least one semester must also carry the specified health and personal-safety insurance; the page lists CNY 800 per year. Living expenses, materials, costumes, production costs, transport between locations, and visa-related expenses are not comprehensively priced there. Training is directly relevant to performance, directing, writing, design, production, research, education, and cultural-management work. However, the newest readily accessible official employment report is not current enough to support 2026 placement-rate, salary, or employer claims. Applicants should assess career fit through department curricula, production opportunities, and the Academy’s current employment service rather than relying on unsupported outcome statistics.