100 Million Dollar Gift to School of Music

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>... makes it now tuition free. Donors to remain anonymous.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.yale.edu/opa/newsr/05-11-02-02.all.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.yale.edu/opa/newsr/05-11-02-02.all.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>New Haven, Conn. — A gift of $100 million to the Yale School of Music, the largest gift in the school’s history, will allow the school to subsidize fully the tuition for all students, Acting Dean Thomas C. Duffy has announced.</p>

<p>“This generous gift is a transformational addition to the resources of the School of Music, and represents a major step that will make it possible to realize many of the school's goals in a matter of years instead of decades,” Duffy said, adding that the donors wished to remain anonymous.</p>

<p>“Their request for anonymity does not prohibit me from expressing to the donors the gratitude of the school, its staff, faculty and students, and the gratitude of the many fans, artists, musical guests and alumni,” he said. “This gift reflects evidence of the School's importance, its place in this excellent University and its potential to sustain a position of international prominence in the training and education of talented musicians.”</p>

<p>The fully subsidized tuition for all students in the school, including those already enrolled, will begin in the 2006-07 academic year, enhancing the school’s ability to attract the world’s best musicians. Duffy said other benefits of the gift would be realized over the next several years.</p>

<p>Among other advances, the acting dean said the unprecedented gift to the school would allow it to acquire technology making it possible to broadcast events, clinics and special lectures, including the ability to host and participate in live interactive clinics and workshops with colleagues from conservatories and institution around the world.</p>

<p>The school already has relationships with conservatories in Beijing, Moscow, Seoul, Germany and Shanghai, and is working to establish others. These relationships involve exchanges of faculty and students, and will involve exchanges of ensembles. Duffy said the gift to the school would make it possible to accelerate the pace and expand the depth of these relationships....</p>

2

<p>Wow!
That's some impressive money.</p>

3

<p>They could buy another Stradivarius :-P By the way, do the rare instruments in Yale's collection get any concert use, or are they just there as museum pieces?</p>

4

<p>Omggggggggggggggggggggggggggg
<333333333</p>

5

<p>Ok...so I'm saying on my app. that I am the son of 'Anonymous,' so hopefully, I'll get in (developmental acceptance rate= 100%)</p>

6

<p>This is an interesting development - could it set off an "arms race" among not only elite schools of music, but other departments as well?</p>

<p>Currently, there's a tenuous balance among elite schools - similar tuitions and a mostly common formula for financial aid. The only exceptions have been the "no loan" policies adopted by a couple of schools.</p>

<p>At the same time, every school wants to get the best students. Now, other music schools that compete with Yale may have to scramble to attract those students who would otherwise pay tuition or sign up for loans. What if someone decided to underwrite Econ majors at Columbia? Or CompSci majors at MIT? This could turn balanced competition with peer institutions into a near rout - applications would soar, and yield would likely jump too.</p>

<p>For the strategy to be effective, the school has to start with a top-ranked program. Most Ivy-caliber students could score free or greatly reduced tuition either at in-state schools or at generous private colleges. The real upset potential is for programs of similar reputation - if one drops from $40K to $0, that's a big deal.</p>

7

<p>Understand we are talking about a graduate program here, and not an undergrad program. Few grad students pay full freight at elites anyway, although there may be teaching responsibilities as a quid pro-quo.</p>

<p>To subsidize undergrads on a basis other than need would violate Ivy agreements. It could happen some day, if so-called "merit scholarships" skim off too much of the cream, but this isn't a related development.</p>

8

<p>Let's just hope that Yale invests it wisely to continue churning out sizeable payouts each year; otherwise, as tuition rises, interest will be unable to cover the costs. Possible outcomes: admitting fewer students, pulling money in from other sources to cover tuition.</p>

<p>Also, it really isn't $40k to $0 because the gift covers only tuition, not R&B. So it really goes from $43,700 to $12,240.</p>

9

<p>Curtis conservatory in Philadelphia doesn't charge any tuition either.</p>

10

<p>Curtis Institute of Music.....that is the full name.</p>

<p>


</p>

11

<p>Curtis is not in direct competition with Yale for music students. It is undergrad-only except for a couple of majors and accepts something like 35-40 new students per year, total. Half of those generally come from outside the US. Unless they are a hand-picked protege of a teacher at Curtis, anyone applying there is probably also applying to several other top music schools, so they are not reducing the applicant pool elsewhere by more than a few students per year. It varies a bit by department, but Curtis usually gets 20 to 30 candidates auditioning for each available spot. </p>

<p>Even though tuition is free, the cost of living within walking distance (which most Curtis students do) can easily run $15K to $20K per year. Curtis has no dorms or cafeterias, so students look for apartments in the Center-City Philadelphia market and buy food from local supermarkets and restaurants.</p>

12

<p>I believe the Yale School of Music is considered a professional school, and offers only graduate degrees.</p>

13

<p>Wow....</p>

<p>I better start singing and become Daddy Warbucks and be kickin' sweet.</p>

14

<p>I find it interesting that almost all observers implicitly acknowledge elite universities' fear of an "arms race", and their decision to avoid merit aid and all award similar amounts of needs-based aid. This sort of gamesmanship clearly doesn't mesh with antitrust law.</p>

15

<p>now only if someone could do that for the school of medicine.</p>

16

<p>how can anyone donate that kind of money without wanting a building named after?</p>

17

<p>altruism? if it even exists.</p>

18

<p>the donor's identity will be made public soon enough. there's only so many people out there with $100 million to give and a strong enough affection for yale's music school to give it to them, rather than to hurricane or earthquake relief, or some other more "traditional" charitable organization or cause.</p>

19

<p>Back to Curits, that's for geniuses from Russia and Taiwan who perform when they're six years old. Yale School of Music may be top, but Curtis and Juilliard are a whole other league.</p>

20

<p>And Curtis is free anyway, if you can get in its <5% acceptance rate</p>