Help Finding Affordable Music Colleges

College Majors Music Major
1

Hi, I’m intending to major in music in college, but I’m having trouble finding affordable safety/match schools. My family won’t be able to make any significant contribution to college costs (a couple thousand a year max), and I’m applying for Questbridge, but I know that all of the schools on there are reaches for me (3.71/4.48 UW/W GPA, 1570 SAT, 11 APs)

Does anyone know of any colleges (preferably liberal arts colleges, but I’m open to anything at this point) that are welcoming to jazz/popular music that would be doable for a music major going it alone financially?

2

What is your home state? There might be some affordable options there.

3

I live in Arizona. I’ve already applied to ASU, where I’m pretty much guranteed to get a large merit scholarship, but there is still about $9000 per year left to pay even with that.

4

Since a financial safety may be very different from a talent safety, you may need to apply to a few of each (as well as combinations of talent reach/financial safety and talent safety/financial reach). I am assuming your FAFSA Family Contribution number is quite low; otherwise, you have an entirely different issue. Any full meets need school would be considered more of a financial safety for you…and I don’t know of any such programs with a focus in popular music (hopefully others can chime in). For Jazz, consider Lawrence University and Oberlin Conservatory plus maybe Vanderbilt? What is your instrument? U of North Texas has a good reputation for aid, as well. For many Conservatories or big Schools of Music, audition is king and your stats may not need to be as high as they would otherwise need to be (but this is not always the case). Unfortunately, you need to research this on a case by case basis, but reading through some threads here may help! Tel us more about yourself, and you may get more instrument specific help!

5

Try Loyola New Orleans… strong Jazz. … they are generous with merit scholarships and if you have the talent they may up the other stuff too

6

For meet need+music there’s st Olaf but you’d have to inquire to know how welcoming thy are to jazz/popular music?

7

I am a guitarist. I’ve used the net price calculators for Lawrence, Oberlin, and St.Olaf and they all gave me numbers that were ~$15,000+. Am I missing something? Would they be significantly cheaper than that through merit scholarships or auditions? I really don’t think that taking on $60,000 in debt for four years would be a good choice, especially for a music major.

8

Are you doing the NPC right? Check your numbers.
What’s your FAFSA EFC?
Assets can change the results, too.
A 15k net cost would indicate about 60k income and would mean 5.5k loan, 3k work study, 2k student contribution/summer earnings, and 5k from parents. Is that what you’re seeing? Is your parents’ income below 45k?
Those colleges “meet need” but they decide what need is. Non meet-need colleges do whatever they want and even if your EFC is 15k could require you to pay 30k.

9

Your scores are excellent.

It is unclear whether your family is unable to contribute, since you are getting results from the NPC that would seem to indicate an income that would afford some contribution by parents. Is the $2k what they are willing to pay versus what they are able to pay?

You don’t necessarily need a college or university with a conservatory or school of music, which would be a BM program (23/-3/4 classes in music). In other words, you can pursue a music major in a BA program (13/-1/4 classes in music) or you can even major in something else and take lessons, and perform in extracurriculars.

Many many schools, including liberal arts colleges, would have courses in jazz and popular music but in a liberal arts college, they would often not be as performance-focused. So applied music would, as I said, be extracurricular and also involve lessons. There are exceptions, and some classes like “history of jazz” might also have some performance aspects.

We have no idea what level of talent and experience you bring to the applications. If you apply to a BM program, there would be auditions for admission. If you apply for a BA program usually there is no audition for admission but you audition for ensembles in the fall of freshman year. If you have talent, you can submit a supplement with a recording, music resume and letters of recommendation from music teachers/directors, if you like.

Questbridge is a great program and can help you with admission to some great schools.

Applying to ASU is a good idea. It offers a BM in jazz performance as well as a BA in music.

For BM’s in jazz or popular music it seems people on here apply to Berklee, NYU, USC, Belmont, Miami Frost, Loyola New Orleans, UC Denver, New School, a few others. But these are not the best financial options unless you get a large merit award. SUNY Purchase in NY is a good option and is relatively affordable.

The liberal arts colleges mentioned above that do have BM’s include Oberlin and Lawrence; Ithaca, Hartt, College of Wooster, Bard and many others also have BM’s. If you choose to do a BA in music instead of a BM, it is sometimes better to be on a campus without a BM program because the BM students sometimes get the best teachers and opportunities.

It would seem you best bet, honestly is a liberal arts college that does NOT have a BM program , through Questbridge- or a state university. If your EFC is low then you should do well with Questbridge, if you get in.

I suggest you read the Double Degree Dilemma essay that is posted closer to the top of this forum. It is about the different ways to study music.

For liberal arts schools, the Colleges that Change Lives is also a resource for ideas.

Good luck!

10

My son chose Universify of North Texas for jazz bass. Your academics may be good enough for an academic scholarship, plus it is common to get an additional $1000 per year music scholarship. Receiving $1000 in their scholarships grants you an in-state tuition waiver. Another choice that may be similarly priced after scholarships is William Paterson in New Jersey.

11

@ath001 , while it may be POSSIBLE to get a “free ride”, even for a low EFC student in a full-meets-need program, it is highly unlikely that the school/program will cover room/board/living expenses, except through loans and work study. It does happen; but it is highly unlikely. So, for a low EFC student who doesn’t want to borrow a lot of $$, a true financial safety would probably include living at home (or with another relative). It seems to me that the $15,000+ amounts you are getting to with the net price calculators are approximately room+board+living expenses, so I think this is what is happening.

If you can get some very good advice from career professionals on the chances of admission and where you might stand in the pack in regards to merit aid, and as long as you also apply to a true financial safety (that you would be willing to attend), I’d say go for it! Go ahead and apply to some talent and financially reachy programs and see what happens! Also, outside scholarships that are MERIT based can sometimes be stacked on top of your aid at many programs…but usually they must be merit based scholarships (if the outside award is need based, it will often be deducted from other types of need based assistance at the college). So apply for lots of outside awards! I hope this is helpful. Definitely check out the programs that others have suggested, and perhaps search them here on the Music Major’s forum, and you may get a sense of what kind of net cost is possible. Best wishes!

12

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

My EFC is a bit high for what my parents can contribute because they are self-employed. Our income fluctuates a lot since it depends on sales. In 2017 it was ~$73,000, but as recently as 2014 is was below $30,000. Unfortunately, our income in 2017 was unusually high for us, and we will have to fill out the FAFSA with that year. We also have over $50,000 in credit card debt from business start-ups that they must focus on paying off. So the $2,000 is really all they could afford (if anything at all, that is the most they would ideally be able to contribute) at most since that is the amount they spend on private lessons for me right now.

I will definitely look for many third-party merit awards to make most places more doable, and consider a BA in addition to a BM.

13

ASU also offers music scholarships in addition to merit scholarships. So you might get even more from them. ASU, University of Arizona and University of Northern Arizona all seem to have well rounded music programs. Depending on where you life in Arizona, perhaps you could live at home to save money?

14

Your parents could submit a letter about “special circumstances” to see if there can be an adjustment to financial aid.

The CSI Profile required by some schools already has a section for that, but the FAFSA doesn’t. I might be worthwhile to check early on with Financial Aid offices to see how they would handle the fluctuating income and debt.

Schools like Harvard or Amherst give aid to families with incomes up to $150k. There might be other schools that would give substantial aid for a family making $73k.

15

Why do you think the Questbridge schools are all reaches for you?

16

I’m guessing because all schools on the Questbridge list are ready for everyone.
If your family makes less than 75k then you should get a free ride if you get into one of the tippy top schools.

17

@MYOS1634, “free ride” meaning tuition free, or including room/board and expenses??? I don’t know anything at all about Questbridge, but I think this would be an important distinction.

18

Meaning everything including, for kids from a different climate, a one time amount for a heavy coat and boots. Questbridge is a highly selective programs for the highest achievers whose family is lower to lower middle income. They guarantee a full ride to the lucky few admitted.
Same deal at HYPM and a few others like Williams, Amherst, Vassar.
At these schools there’s typically free tuition for the lower reaches of upper middle class families (75-125k).

19

H and and probably YP, Amherst Williams etc. have aid for up to $150k and free ride for everything for under $65k. Probably other schools too (check Pomona for instance).

20

^Actually, there’s some aid for incomes up to 250K at HYP…