About ACTS Scholarship Program

Today a critical demand exists for thoroughly skilled performing artists and other entertainment and media industry professionals like producers, editors, and marketers who support the back end of the industry.

Like most professional careers — the more professional training, mentoring, and experiences a student has, the more likelihood that student can earn a living in the entertainment and media industry.

The entertainment and media industry continues to explode at an incredible rate each year since the beginning of the 21st Century.

Today’s technology makes it easy. Smartphones have placed high-quality cameras in every owner’s pocket. YouTube reaches audiences around the globe instantly. Online courses offer training in ukulele to bookkeeping and have become the norm for self-improvement.

Now the industry saturation is higher than it’s ever been. Competing for audience share to earn a living requires knowledge – and talent. And as each generation becomes more and more comfortable with advancing technology, there will be more and more sources of entertainment to choose from – the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Universities have stepped in to meet this growing need of helping talented entertainment and media students to rise up to the top in their industry through dedicated courses, inclusive majors, and internship opportunities.

Many entertainment and media students pay for their college education through scholarships, work programs, and grants in addition to loans.

Starting in 1980, Barbara “Mother” Hubbard and the ACTS program began setting up endowed scholarships at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Today there are fourteen. You can find the list and apply at https://panam.nmsu.edu/acts.

“An endowed scholarship is a donation made to a college that earns interest each year. When you endow a scholarship, you’ll give a university, college or local foundation a certain amount of money. Then the organization will invest it how it sees fit and use the proceeds to fund a scholarship for years to come. You can add more funds over time, but the principal amount itself will never be spent.”

Source: Bankrate’s Scholarship endowments: Benefits of giving (April 29, 2021)

ACTS strives to insure widespread participation regardless of race, creed, or sexual orientation.

The Bob Hope Scholarship awards funds to military veterans or military retirees in honor of his overseas tours. Another scholarship seeks students with a disability while another reserves its awards for minorities. Most require a financial need, and many have a major requirement like theater arts, venue management, and other E&M careers.

Barbara “Mother” Hubbard started the American Collegiate Talent Showcase (ACTS) as the All-American Collegiate Talent Search in the 1970s. This was a national program that discovered and encouraged fresh, new entertainers on college campuses across the U.S.

ACTS also provided them with a chance for national exposure. The first national competition was held at Southwest Missouri State University in 1978 as the “Bob Hope search for the Tops in Collegiate Talent”. This effort forged a life-long friendship with Bob Hope who affectionately coined Barbara’s nickname as “Mother Hubbard” for her nurturing of young, collegiate talent.

ACTS eventually expanded to help students achieve the knowledge and experience necessary to work "behind the scenes." Training through experience and classroom studies included skill development as sound and lighting techs, marketing and promoting professionals, venue managers, tour accountants, booking agents, and more. Much of the hands-on experience came through paid and volunteer internships. Students would work the shows at the Pan American Center at New Mexico State and serve as volunteer students at national trade conferences like the International Entertainment Buyers Association.

Every college and university in this country has collegiate performers and support professionals who dream of developing and sharing their talents on a national level.

To help fund the scholarships, ACTS became a promoter booking shows at various college and community venues. Students would work on these shows to gain hands-on experience. Often the talent would give back to ACTS to set up a scholarship in their name. We’ve included their names in our shortlist of supporters.

The Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management Bachelor’s Degree delivers a real-world knowledge on how to manage hotels, restaurants, and venues. Students learn everything from safety and sanitation to marketing and business models.

In 2018 Mother Hubbard worked with the Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management professors to develop a new course. The HRTM 444. Entertainment Business and Venue Management course debuted in the spring of 2019. This is a comprehensive course designed to cover all aspects of incorporated event practices such as marketing, production, contracts, ticketing, and security.

Barbara “Mother” Hubbard continues to serve as guest speaker and special projects coordinator for the class.

Students can find out more information and enroll in the class at HRTM-HOTEL/RESTAURANT/TOURISM MGT course listings. For 2021/22 find it HERE.

The Hubb Conference

Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in Nashville, TN in 2017 honored Barbara Hubbard for her 50 years of educating students about the entertainment industry. CAA set up a new program in her honor, “The Hubb Conference." This invitation-only event offered students networking opportunities with leaders in the industry. You can read about it in Digital Music News.

The 2019 conference reported that several 2018 alumni of THE HUBB found full-time employment “at top music companies, including CAA, Universal Music Group, and Spotify, among others.” Read about the 2019 conference in Music Row.

Many established performing artists, producers, managers, agents, administrators, educators, and educational institutions have joined together to support the ACTS program and its many students through the years.

Supporters have included: Bob Hope, Garth Brooks, George Strait, Reba McEntire, Clarence Spalding, Jeff Dunham, Keith Urban, Stevie Wonder, and New Mexico State University. Organizations include Anschutz Entertainment Group, Live Nation, Creative Artists Agency, William Morris, APA, United Talent Agency, and Paradigm.

Our students thank you for helping to make their dreams possible.

If you would like to contribute to help our entertainment and media students, feel free to add to our scholarship program through New Mexico State University.

Find out how at https://nmsufoundation.org/how-to-give.html.

Talk with your college advisor and apply for an ACTS scholarship for next semester.

ACTS Scholarship Opportunities at New Mexico State University

Apply Here

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