Seeking great aid for jazz piano/commercial music

College Majors Music Major
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Thanks so much in advance for reading and responding!

Starting to look for schools for my 15 yr old sophomore jazz piano player. Music is his everything; firm on making music a career at this point. Loves all things jazz, jazz fusion more than a traditional purist, loves to jam, to compose, has a wide range of music genre interests but at this point only main instruments are piano and percussion (set and orchestral percussion). He’s really strong in improv and musicality, good grasp of jazz theory, not strong in sight-reading, minimal interest in classical piano. We would like him in a program that’s well-rounded and offers plenty of music industry exposure and career mentorship. He wants a collaborative, creative environment.

It’s hard to communicate (or even know myself) where he is in the scheme of talent and levels, of course I think he’s amazing;) He attended Eastman’s summer jazz program after freshman year and was challenged by it but held his own and grew a lot in just two weeks. He’s in several jazz groups in Philly, and composes for them. For this summer, we are looking at Jazz House Kids in NJ, possibly Shenandoah in VA, and UNT. The summer after 11th grade he will do the Berklee 5-week Aspire. Feel free to share insights into those summer programs, as well!

Finances are a big factor in our college search. We don’t plan on him or us having debt for an undergraduate music degree. Our FAFSA EFC is 23K. He’s our middle kid. His older sister is heading to a small meets-full-need LAC with a huge endowment and awesome aid; we’re paying 17k for her. We might have a little more wiggle room for him, but not much. Under 25K is the goal.

He’s a strong academic student (honors and AP’s) with a high GPA. His school is not known for academic rigor but it’s a performing arts school so he takes lots of music classes during the school day. Don’t know about SAT yet but we plan to prep for a high score. He enjoys being intellectual but he does not enjoy academics in school. He was homeschooled until 9th grade.

The finances involved in a music-focused college search are so elusive compared to the more straight-forward info we were able to get for my LAC kid last year! Figuring out how need-based aid, merit and/or talent scholarships may or may not come into play seems very difficult to predict for music, so hearing anecdotal stories from those who have gone down this road would be helpful.

We plan to cast a wide net. We’re open to state schools or LAC’s with great music programs, we’re open to dual degree ideas, we’re open to conservatories. There is no dream school mentality; we want the right fit for the right price.

Kiddo is also neurodiverse, though it’s hard to gauge right now if/how that will affect our school choice two years from now in terms of geography and size of school. Because of sensory issues he may not do real well in long winters. Because of exec functioning he may need the support of a smaller school. But we aren’t omitting schools right now based on those factors, just bearing them in mind.

My daughter got a great deal (19k) at the conservatory at Lawrence for improv. She chose another school and isn’t going for a music degree, but we are very much hoping to have some offers like this for my son.

We’re in Philly. If he stays in town, Boyer at Temple would likely be his best financial option. He definitely doesn’t want to live at home, but he doesn’t feel a need to go far. On the other hand, if he got a great deal and loved a program in the midwest or south, he may change his mind about distance.

I have such a long list of possibilities right now. I’m not sure it makes much sense to list them here. I am aware of the big names. What are the schools that you are aware of that have robust music options for a jazz/contemp kid as well as pathways to lots of aid?

THANKS

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I’m not a jazz expert…but University of North Texas and University of Miami come to mind for me. And not much winter…

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@BeverlyWest has a kid looking at jazz programs right now, I believe. Perhaps she may have some insight.

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You’re lucky that you have Temple as an in-state option. It’s got a very popular jazz program. So many would be thrilled to have that as their fall-back option.

One school that sounds as though it would be extremely affordable is the U. of New Orleans. It offers a concentration in Jazz Studies in its music major and your son would probably qualify for merit aid. Sticker price is about $25k for tuition, room & board for out-of-state students, and your son would qualify for at least $5k off of that. Your son would probably also be competitive for the interview scholarship that would be about $18,750/year, leaving your family with about $7k/year in out-of-pocket costs.

U. of Louisiana - Lafayette offers a jazz concentration within its music major as well. It has specified criteria for receiving various levels of merit aid . If you’re an out-of-state student and qualify for the Live Oak Scholarship (ACT 32+ / SAT 1420+; 3.0+ cumulative GPA), then I think $8k/year would probably be the final cost. @2plustrio’s senior has been looking at their music program and may be able provide additional insight.

There are many schools that may offer Jazz Studies as a concentration within the major (like UNO), but I’ll leave that work to others :wink:. I looked at the schools that offer an independent jazz major in IPEDS data (College Navigator, the feds’ website, has some of the more user-friendly ways to access the data). These were were the schools that seemed to have more popularity (absolutely or relatively) in their jazz programs:

  • CUNY City College: About 12k undergrads
  • DePaul (IL): About 14k undergrads
  • Elmhurst (IL): About 3k undergrads
  • Ithaca (NY): About 4800 undergrads
  • Loyola New Orleans (LA): About 3400 undergrads
  • Oberlin (OH): About 3k undergrads
  • Roosevelt (IL): About 2700 undergrads
  • SUNY Purchase: About 3400 undergrads
  • U. of Central Oklahoma: About 12k undergrads
  • U. of Hartford (CT): About 4k undergrads
  • U. of Miami (FL): About 12k undergrads
  • U. of Missouri – Kansas City: About 16k undergrads
  • U. of North Carolina – Asheville: About 3200 undergrads
  • U. of North Florida: About 14k undergrads
  • U. of North Texas: About 33k undergrads
  • Western Michigan: About 15k undergrads

For public schools in Texas and Florida, there’s often a caveat that if an out-of-state student qualifies for even a modest merit award (like $1k/year) that they then qualify for in-state costs. With respect to the aspects of each of these schools and appropriate fit, I’ll leave that to you to investigate. :slight_smile:

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He should work on his sight reading skills no matter where he ends up attending. It may also be helpful over the next couple of years to figure out what he hopes to do after graduation. If he is already composing, he may want to look at composition programs. If the goal is jazz piano performance it may be most beneficial to attend school in a city known for live jazz performance. If he wants a dual degree program, be aware some schools (Johns Hopkins/Peabody for example) do not give music merit to double degree candidates. It may also be problematic with executive function issues given the intense work load. Also wondering if the very expensive Aspire summer program makes sense absent a scholarship. May be money better spent on college tuition. Another fiscal reality is the incredibly expensive housing if he wants to attend Berklee. It’s a very competitive market and no space in dorms after Frosh year. The good news is you are way ahead of the game since you are starting so early. Spend time on the websites of the schools you are considering. Look at the degree requirements and the course catalogs. Every program is different, even if the name is the same. But all schools also seem to share the basics (Music Theory, Ear Training/Sight Singing etc). All will likely have ensemble requirements. Most will likely require courses grounded in classical music even if the student is a Jazz major. There are great choices for your son, but do the work on the front end to figure out “fit” and then he can apply to a reasonable number and balanced list of schools.

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Love that you are so on top of things! Mine will start a Jazz Studies (performance/guitar) at UNT win the Fall. He did camps at NYU, Berklee, Eastman, and UNT along the way…Berklee he did the Guitar sessions vs Aspire only bc he wanted to attend UNT as well that summer! It was his only non-virtual Covid-free summer. Mine also attends an Arts magnet school and is neurodiverse (ADHD/executive functioning). We started with a list of 10 to apply to, whittled that to 6 applications, and because he had a clear frontrunner only auditioned at 3 (cancelled the last bc his decision was made after UNT’s acceptance). I thinks it’s imperative to do the camps…a good opportunity to meet the professors, get a vibe from the campus and area, etc…think of it as a mini preview. When it came down to decision time my son picked the school with the professor he wanted to learn from and work with. I’m happy to answer any question if you want to message me!

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Awesome info, thanks!!! You have no idea how comforting it is to see examples of possible out of pocket costs as low as 7 or 8K!

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Good points. Yes, we need to work on the sight reading. ADHD adds another layer to pushing himself to do things that are hard and that he is not internally motivated to do. He wants to get better at it, but he sits down at the piano and 5 hours later he’s still improvising! Yes, composition programs and commercial music programs are being considered.

I agree that the 5 week Berklee may not be worth the cost. He is charmed by that Berklee name and he knows peers who have gone and had a great time. We know how pricey living in Boston is; his dad went to college in Boston many moons ago. The cost of living there is definitely a deterrent.

You’re also correct that double degree may be just too much for a ND guy.

Thanks for the reminders!

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Thanks, I’ll message you!

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Hi there. Our kids sound very similar! We also have the same EFC. :grinning:

I didn’t see your kid’s grades mentioned, but with the required GPA and with that EFC, Loyola is coming out to $24k for us. From what we’ve heard, it is a school where profs and administrators care about the students personally. It felt to my kid like it was a relaxed atmosphere, and the city is perfect for studying jazz.

UNT is one of the most well regarded jazz programs in the world, and it’s amazingly affordable. My son loved his visit there! I’ve heard it can be more competitive, and it’s a big music school, which your kid may love or not. There are parents here who can speak more to that.

My kid also applied to University of Memphis, which would be around $19k before scholarships. He hasn’t heard from them yet. The school is known for its recording industry program, and the U has made recent investments in the music school, including a beautiful new performance and rehearsal building. All that said, we haven’t visited there yet.

All the other schools he applied to would cost more than 25k.

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My kid feels that the ensembles are crucial. He thrives on playing together with other musicians, and the array of ensembles is something he’s looked into at every school. Some will have a great array, including Latin jazz, Afro Cuban jazz, etc. Also look into how often the ensembles are recast.

To the OP: One more thing my son is considering is the opportunity to play in the local jazz scene. If that’s important for your kid, then you can sort by location and look at schools like University of New Orleans.

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A lot of the non-conservatory attending top kids from our jazz ensemble, which is rated as one of the best in the nation, (Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble – Philharmonic Association) end up at Michigan State and UNC - Greensboro. These are the music major kids. Oddly enough, a lot of these kids go into engineering!

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If you’re interested in a less intense and less expensive camp Rowan has a 4-5 day camp for music business and one for jazz.

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Ensembles are definitely important and my son will want to be a part of several. Playing in a local jazz scene also makes sense to be an important consideration. The nyc and Boston are just so expensive to live in, so we’ll need to consider southern music towns. We’re from Philly.

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That is your FAFSA EFC now. Is that for one student in college?

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Great post!

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That was our EFC last year when we did FAFSA for our oldest. With two kids in college, I guess it will go down?

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In the 2024-2025 academic year, the FAFSA will no longer consider multiple siblings in college at the same time.

No one knows what the Profile schools will do.

So…for you…it all depends when you will have two in college for FAFSA purposes.

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My son is currently a jazz performance major at Peabody (Johns Hopkins). His scholarships are small – in fact, they were the smallest of all the schools who offered him.

The biggest came from Bard College (not the Conservatory, since jazz isn’t part of the conservatory), which offered scholarships worth 75% of cost of attendance (COA). The second biggest – which he almost accepted – was from The New School, which offered $$$ worth 50% COA.

Hope that helps.

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Please consider Purchase College, SUNY… they just graduated Samara Joy, recent double Grammy winner. Amazing NYC Jazz performers on the teaching staff, too many names to mention.

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