I know I’ve read about this topic in both the Theatre/Drama forum as well as this one, but I’m so exhausted from searching for an answer that I thought I’d ask again. Please forgive this newbie. My D has a very long list of schools, and I’m wondering if I should just narrow it by what we can likely afford. She’s applying to both MT and Acting programs and I simply hate the idea of her being accepted and then finding out we really can’t afford it. I know many have said NYU and Emerson do not give much aid. Any others I should take off the list?
Are you looking for Merit Aide (based on grades/scores) or need based aide (based on expected family contribution)? That can make an important difference?
Those are good questions to ask of each of the financial aid offices. Every situation is different so it’s kind of a tough question to answer. Merit and artistic aid are based on grades and talent.
- Almost all schools include a net price estimator that in many cases will include a pretty accurate picture of merit and need-based aid for a specific set of grades, test scores, family income, etc. These are not always accurate, however, and will definitely not include talent-based merit aid. If the number comes out lower than you expect, then call the financial aid office and ask for clarification for general aid and the theatre department for typical talent award amounts.
- You can look up average statistics for merit aid and need-based aid on collegedata.com, use the search box to find a school and look under the "Money Matters" tab. For example, the report for NYU is shown below and indicates that only 6.1% of undergrads receive non-need-based merit aid and the average amount was $7,882, which is not very much compared to the cost of attendance. Other schools give much higher merit aid amounts vs. the cost of attendance.
All Undergraduates
Financial Aid Applicants 14,934 (63.7%) of undergraduates
Found to Have Financial Need 12,366 (52.7%) of applicants
Received Financial Aid 12,051 (97.5%) of applicants with financial need
Need Fully Met 833 (6.9%) of aid recipients
Average Percent of Need Met 62%
Average Award $36,042
Need-Based Gift
Received by 10,997 (91.3%) of aid recipients, average amount $27,699
Need-Based Self-Help
Received by 10,182 (84.5%) of aid recipients, average amount $6,539
Merit-Based Gift
Received by 9 (.1%) of aid recipients
Merit-Based Gift 1,424 (6.1%) of undergraduates had no financial need and received merit aid, average amount $7,882
- Two years ago I compiled non-need based merit aid stats for many MT programs from collegedata.com:
In general, the higher the school is ranked, the lower the merit aid available. This is because merit aid is basically a “tuition discount” offered by the school to attract students that exceed their average stats and, hence, improve their rankings. The higher the school is ranked, the higher the bar and the less the merit aid amounts.
- Every now and then you will hear a "bolt from the blue" story about someone who did receive an amazing merit aid package from a school like NYU, so, some individuals are able to beat the odds and averages.
For need-based aid, a quick filter can be to use the College Scorecard website to see what the typical price is for your income band. This may be less accurate for OOS publics where most aid goes to in state students. For those, run the net price calculator.
For merit aid, look up the school at College Data. Their site will show the percentage of students getting merit aid and the avaerage award.
Others I’ve heard are usually/often not very generous are Roosevelt/CCPA, BOCO, Belmont, and Indiana U (the latter only in OOS cases; in-state, I’ve heard it’s fine). Of course, there are exceptions, so if your D absolutely loves one of the schools not known for their generosity, it might be ok to keep it on the list and just emphasize that it’s a financial reach. She might get lucky! However, she would have to be the sort to know that it may not work out for her at those places even if she gets accepted artistically and academically–and be accepting and fine with that. My D did this; she applied to a couple not known for their generosity and was fine when they did, in fact, turn out to not be generous. The school that she ended up at was a sort of financial reach school because the sticker price is high, but we had heard they can be generous, and thank God, they were.
I know that scholarships are incredibly individual and it is not an across the board situation… that being said, what I will say is that Emerson was incredibly generous to me, and gave a lot of merit aid. So do not count them out too early. My take on applying was to get a mix of financially viable schools and some reaches, for programs that really spoke to me. And then, if they couldn’t come through with the money, then I’d at least have options that I liked, but I also didn’t have to limit myself to places I did not like, just because of money.