James McAvoy yesterday spoke of his concern and "terror" over the proposed changes at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.
The Scottish actor, 29, originally from Drumchapel, said the RSAMD should be funded properly and preserved as the leading conservatoire in Scotland, and one of the best in the UK.
The star of Atonement and The Last King of Scotland has also been contacting fellow RSAMD alumni and other well-known artists to gather support for an open letter to the First Minister, which will be delivered today.
He said without the inspiration he took from teachers and actors from the RSAMD visiting his school he would be "standing on the street corner drinking Buckie".
The actor, who graduated from the RSAMD only in 2000, spoke to The Herald from Berlin, where he is filming The Last Station, a film about the last year of Leo Tolstoy's life.
The RSAMD is restructuring, and is likely to make staff redundant, with others moving to part-time contracts, in an attempt to save £600,000.
The institution is also concerned that they receive less funding for drama courses than institutions in England.
McAvoy said he is worried that the quality of student life and training at the academy could suffer in the future.
"I feel really devastated about the news, I am absolutely terrified about what could happen.
"The RSAMD is the only centre for serious dramatic training in the whole of Scotland.
"We have one for a country of five million people and it's not just for actors, it's musicians, it's all kinds of performers.
"If the RSAMD wasn't there, I wouldn't be an actor today.
"I don't mean I wouldn't have a career - I wouldn't be an actor at all.
"The current situation is very worrying.
"A lot of students cannot afford to go to London to train. I certainly couldn't, and I was living in the days when we had a full student grant,"
he said.
"I think the RSAMD is an amazing place, it really is something special.
"It just does not have the funding-per-student that they have down south in England.
"They seemed to have coped well with that situation over the years but now that situation seems to be untenable.
"What really worries me is the situation with the teachers. I had such an amazing experience at my school St Thomas Aquinas with those teachers, they are the ones that visited my school and changed my life - if it wasn't for them I would be drinking Buckie on a street corner.
"We as a nation have to have pride in our culture, and we cannot have pride in our culture if we do not provide the country with artists and musicians, and if we don't have them, what do we have?" he added.
"We only have one conservatoire in the RSAMD in Scotland - it is a national treasure, and we need to keep it.
"It is a precious thing and we should not let it slip away."
Among the signatories to the open letter are Billy Boyd, Bill Paterson, Brian Cox, David Tennant, Alan Cumming, Greg Wise, Tamzin Outhwaite, Eileen McCallum, Karen Cargill, Malcolm Martineau, Christian Curnyn, David McVicar and Lee Blakely.
Drama students attract only around £7000 in funding from the Scottish Funding Council - whereas academies in England receive £12,000 for drama students.
The RSAMD is currently having a consultation period - extended by a week - between management, staff and students over the proposed changes.
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