<p>Where I live viola is suddenly become popular with the high school kids that are required by their parents to study a musical instrument. It used to just be piano, violin, cello, piano, violin, cello - but not anymore and the conductors couldn’t be happier. There is a bit of a lag in the middle of some of the viola sections my kid plays in, but there is a huge bubble towards the back of all the sections and it’s really encouraging. I don’t know if this will translate past high school but there is hope, which is better than a couple of years ago when it looked like viola was in trouble. </p>
<p>With some of the state schools the key to them being affordable is the academic scholarships because they all max out pretty fast with merit aid. Rare is a state school that has a good viola prof AND an in-state tuition rate scholarship. UNT seems to be one of those, but I’m sure there are some others and then, as others have mentioned , there might be schools in your state. When we were looking at schools I found that the more paperwork and forms past the FAFSA a school asks for , the more money they have. My theory will be tested April 1. </p>
<p>When it comes to scholarships and financial aid in our house we work as a team: my kid provides the merit and I provide the need. :-)</p>