<p>Hello, I know this is a question which I'm sure has never been asked before, but I was wondering if anyone here had some personal suggestions for good theatre colleges/BFA acting programs that either usually offer good financial aid or are relatively inexpensive. Right now the best one I've found is in my state, UNCSA. I've looked online and other places, but I'd love some suggestions from you all too. </p>
<p>Really appreciate any replies; thank you!</p>
<p>If your child has super high grades- 3.8+ (un-weighted) and high SAT scores 1900+ and is high ranked in their high school class, that will garner great scholarships from most public universities (and some private ones too). That’s the objective part. I’ll have to think of some BFA’s that fit what you’re looking for. I’m sure others will chime in but there’s Florida State, University of Central Florida, Northern Illinois University,…I believe there are schools in Texas too. Oh wait, does it matter if it’s a big school or a smaller one? Good luck!</p>
<p>As an in-state student, it will be hard to top UNCSA in terms of affordability. If you have high-stats you can get in state tuition also at Rutgers, Minnesota and probably the SUNYs. You might also check out BA to BFA schools such as Michigan State.</p>
<p>I’m taking the SAT in May, and I have a 3.5 unweighted, 4.0 weighted, so that’s good. I’ll definitely check out both of your suggestions, and to be honest it doesn’t really matter to me whether it’s a large or small school. Thank you both very much!</p>
<p>Jordan, please check out Adelphi University on Long Island. With your grades and good scores (the equivalent of high 20s-30s ACT) you can get huge merit/talent scholarships. It is an auditioned BFA that is probably not as hard to get into as UNCSA.</p>
<p>I have seen on these threads some great merit scholarships at Coastal Carolina as well.</p>
<p>Cheap is definitely a relative term. The schools that have given the best merit scholarships to my D: Webster University, Otterbein University, and the University of Evansville–it brings them all to a price range similar to University of Minnesota in-state tuition. U of Minnesota has offered no scholarships at this point–waiting on BFA scholarship application. If received, that will bring it to the least expensive of the 10 schools she applied to. At this point with all scholarships, Webster Conservatory is the best (military dependent scholarship, merit scholarship, and midwest state scholarship). This does not take into account any need-based aid you might receive. She received none from any school. My definition of cheap: Less than $10 grand a year for tuition alone. One more that would be an amazing deal with merit scholarship is Viterbo University.</p>
<p>I think it’s important to clarify whether you’re looking for need-based aid or merit. If you have a low income but very good academics and scores, a school like Northwestern might very well be your best option, because of their strong commitment to need-based aid. (The Ivies all give tremendous need based aid…I know a girl who is going to Dartmouth for about $2000 a year.) Only the very top colleges do this anymore, though, so you have to have amazing academics to get in and it’s still kind of a crap shoot. (And only a few of them are good theater schools…NU, Vassar, now I’m out of names.) </p>
<p>However, if your parents make north of $200,000, which I realize is not that much money if you live in NYC or similar, you will probably be looking more towards merit based aid, which also depends on grades and scores and seems to range in the zero to $15,000 range. (There may be some special situations where people get full-ride merit scholarships, but it’s not something you can bank on.) </p>
<p>Our cheapest option (which is not cheap in any sense; it’s almost three times our FAFSA EFC) is Savannah College of Art and Design, where my S is getting about $20,000 in academic, talent and need-based aid, bringing the total cost after loans and grants to about $25k. </p>
<p>Also, though we live in a state that has decided not to subsidize higher education at all (Live Free or Die!!!), state programs can be cheaper (though nowhere near as cheap as they used to be) and good as well, depending on where you live.</p>
<p>Sorry, guess I’m looking for merit, talent, and need based. My mom was fired from her job a few months ago, which is dampening many things the least of which is college tuition. I get all A’s but I’m still fairly new to this stuff and don’t know that much regarding tuition, scholarships, etc.
Thanks for the info and tips by the way!</p>
<p>Check out the University of Utah. I think you can become a resident after year one bringing the cost even with room and board down from around $28,000 to $15,000 the next three years. I also think they have merit aid maybe even for talent.</p>
<p>The cost of tuition, room and board for an out of state student at Coastal Carolina University is about $32,000. The highest level academic scholarship for out of state students is $11,000 per year. CCU also awards talent scholarships, but currently talent and merit cannot be combined. It sounds like you might also be eligible for need based aid. </p>
<p>Many schools offer a net price calculator on their website. This can help you get a feel for how much you might receive in scholarships, loans and grants. Here is the one for CCU:
[Coastal</a> Carolina University](<a href=“http://www.coastal.edu/financialaid/calculator/]Coastal”>http://www.coastal.edu/financialaid/calculator/)</p>
<p>CCU is a member of the academic common market. So if your state (sorry Jordan44B but North Carolina isn’t) is a member and you are interested in CCU, the net price calculator has a drop down menu to choose your state to see if you are eligible.</p>
<p>google “merit scholarship” and the name of the college you are interested in .
This will yield the criteria each school uses and the merit award.
Need based depends on your FASFA results and if your parent(s) are unemployed and their is hardship the schools usually help out.There is a formula
Many of the colleges are offering Financial Aid workshops or seminars to help you calculate estimated Need based awards.</p>
<p>My experience has been that schools do not give a damn about financial need or hardship, but maybe you’ll be luckier.</p>
<p>Jkellynh17 - We had a mixed experience with requesting additional aid. But I was able to get some additional scholarship money at the school my D is attending. I just scheduled an appointment with financial aid when we were doing our campus visit.</p>
<p>We are trying as well (same school, I think), but no luck so far. We have enough money for 2 years there, maybe 3 which is, I suppose, better than nothing. </p>
<p>We’re also hoping to get off the waitlist at Syracuse, which is a need-based school. (I’m not expecting full-need, but CCPA apparently did awards without even having access to FAFSA forms.)</p>
<p>Sorry for late reply, slammed in school.
Thank you all for the advice, it’s very useful and really appreciated by me and my parents!</p>
<p>As far as Utah goes you have to apply before Dec 1st because they don’t give out merit after that. They also do not give much talent and we actually didn’t get any needs based money. If you live there in the summer you do get instate the following year. Texas State gives a scholarship then you get instate tuition. The best ones my D received that had both needs based and merit were Webster and Nebraska Wesleyan. She got great merit from Pace but not enough to make it affordable.</p>