The Strategic Plan
The Peabody Institute’s new strategic plan, Building on the Breakthrough 2025-29, marks the next chapter in our remarkable journey of growth and innovation. Building on the successes of our 2015 Breakthrough Plan and its renewal in 2019 as the Breakthrough Plan 2024, this ambitious plan reflects significant collaboration and input from faculty, staff, students, alumni, and advisory board members. It charts a course for Peabody’s continued leadership in the performing arts, focusing on five key areas: Academic Programming, Financial Aid, Expanding Our Reach, People and Culture, and the Mount Vernon Campus.
This new plan comes at a transformative moment in Peabody’s 167-year history. Under the Breakthrough Plan, we saw robust growth across virtually every area of the institution, including a 40% increase in Conservatory enrollment; the launch of innovative new programs in Dance, Music for New Media, and Arts and Health; and the rethinking of career training for 21st-century artists through the Breakthrough Curriculum and LAUNCHPad. We have also broadened the diversity of our student body, faculty, and curriculum; established new forums for critical dialogue in the arts in Baltimore, in Washington D.C. and online; and strengthened our financial foundation, marked by significant growth in fundraising and endowment to lay the groundwork for generations to come.
Continuing this momentum, Peabody’s leadership among its peers has been further bolstered by an unprecedented expansion of our financial aid programs over the past year, including the commitment to meet full demonstrated need for domestic undergraduate students without loans; expanded availability of merit scholarships; and significant investments in graduate financial aid, including full tuition support for the 2-year residency period of DMA candidates. We have also committed to plan and undertake a $163 million capital improvement initiative, reimagining our historic Mount Vernon campus to meet the needs of our growing student body and support artistic and academic excellence by significantly upgrading and expanding student housing, developing new and upgraded programmatic space, and addressing longstanding needs across our historic campus.
These successes and exciting new developments have positioned Peabody to further deepen its impact, expand access to its world-class performing arts education, enhance the student experience, strengthen its competitive standing among its peers, and explore opportunities to reach new audiences. The strategic plan provides a roadmap for these goals and more, outlining avenues to reinforce our core strengths and values, while unlocking new pathways for growth and innovation over the next five years.
Together, we are shaping a future that celebrates our mission and builds upon our legacy of leadership and innovation in the performing arts and education.