Thank you; these are great school ideas!
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Great suggestions; thank you!
I’ll look into Ithaca and Knox. Thank you for these ideas.
I remembered some cuts at Ithaca and found this:
Ithaca College’s program priorities are out of tune. – The Ithacan
Luther College (IA) is a great LAC for music as well. Jazz is going to be a little harder to find at an LAC but if he doesn’t want only jazz maybe not so complicated.
Another good one for music is University of Puget Sound, but it’s the opposite of east coast.
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S24 is having the same dilemma and is actually going to apply to a variety of BA programs and a few BM that allow double majors. Williams is high on the list (he is a classical instrumentalist) and he has had wonderful interactions so far with the music department. We also had an excellent experience with Davidson if that is not outside of your geographic range. Very involved and supportive music department. I don’t know about jazz but Skidmore also has a robust music department and a lot of support for music students in a lac.
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ETA: Center for the Arts Celebrates 50 Years (wesleyan.edu):
My hunch is that he will find his peep at Wesleyan. My only reservation is that it is ultra-rejective in its admissions AND as an otherwise traditional LAC, he’s going to feel pressured to stretch himself academically - I’m talking about other Arts and Humanities subjects, not necessarily STEM. OTOH, Wesleyan’s curriculum, as a practical matter, is as open as you want it to be:
Composer and cellist Arthur Russell’s “City Park,” which integrates chamber music, electronics, concrete poetry, turntablism, and modern rock, will be performed outdoors on September 29 by an ensemble including composer Peter Zummo ’70, MA ’75.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Music and cellist Ethan Philbrick curated “Instrument—Body,” a series of musical encounters with Brandon Lopez and Cecilia Lopez MA ’16, Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste, Narcissister, and Justin Wong in site-specific locations across campus from October 20 to December 8.
Nicolas Collins ’76, MA ’79 presents do-it-yourself electronic sound workshops and a concert of recent music works, including several Connecticut premieres, on September 15 and 16.
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It’s not a LAC but maybe Pitt? Jazz week was always a favorite.
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Ithaca’s music department is thriving. These decisions to cut masters degrees and focus on educating undergrads had been in the works for several years, they are the same sort of decisions that are going on at non-elite LACs across the country. UNT’s director of bands just took on the director of bands role at Ithaca. A sure sign that they are investing in the department. I wouldn’t be concerned.
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My oldest just graduated from Oberlin. She received fantastic merit/needs-based aid! Ranked as one of the top 10 music schools for jazz in the country; multiple well known jazz musicians on the faculty, as well as notable alumni. If you’re looking for a small LAC with unbelievable music programs (especially jazz, composition, etc.), Oberlin is going to be hard to top! Constant jazz performances, jazz artists playing, etc. Our daughter was regularly sending us video of campus jazz performances (both formal and impromptu- many parties were “jazz parties” centered around the jazz students playing), visiting renowned jazz artists- it was mind blowing!
Edited to add: Incredibly inclusive/nurturing environment and housing is guaranteed!
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Brandeis just cut their grad program in theory and composition and musicology.
The issue at Ithaca apparently wasn’t the quality of the program but overwork for undergrad TA’s in positions grad students used to fill.
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Yes, Loyola is an amazing school for music and you can’t find a better city to inspire, with its rich jazz history and artsy vibe! My daughter is a senior studying popular & commercial music (focus on singer/songwriter.) She loves it and we have been very happy with her program as it goes beyond the craft of music (the focus of many conservatories) and delves into important areas such as music law, marketing, internet tech, recording techniques, songwriting and musical collaboration. Top notch faculty and a diverse, supportive community of students. It’s definitely worth checking out if you can handle the distance (Loyola is 19 hours by car for us so that’s not easy!) Good luck @lilmelissa1
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Thank you so much!
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My next door neighbor’s son went to SUNY purchase (trumpet, French horn, jazz), and my daughter’s classmate ended up at The New School after leaving Drew University (drums, jazz). I think he really liked ig.
My jazz major son just started at Loyola and is loving it. The school could not be more caring and welcoming. He loves his classes and is feeling challenged. He’s been to hear lots of live music. During move in, it seemed like almost every student was a musician. He’s really far from us, and I felt secure leaving him in such a great place.
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Another plus for Loyola. There’s a lot of flexibility to try things and change if desired. It’s much more fluid than the other jazz programs my kid considered, with the possible exception of The New School.
Last two points I’ll make 
The Loyola cohort is big. They give generous scholarships and financial aid.
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We looked at Shenandoah too, and it seemed like a wonderful program. S has friends at Bard who are loving it.
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The FAFSA reduction for two kids in college is going away…now. So…that isn’t going to help you at colleges that use the FAFSA only. Each of your kids will have that $22,000 (or whatever it is at the time) family contribution. Which is now called the SAI.
@AustenNut i usually agree totally with your suggestions regarding potential ability to be accepted. BUT if this student is applying to a program that requires an audition for admission, all bets are off.
Where an audition is required, this kid’s audition will be looked at in comparison to others doing an audition for the same instrument. There is no way to predict the strength of the audition pool at any college in advance. Really for auditioned programs, there are no real sure things, in my opinion.
I think this poster would get great answers in the music majors area of this forum.
Also, has this been answered…is this student looking for BA programs or BM (auditioned) programs…there is a difference.
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@BeverlyWest probably has a good list as her kid is at Loyola NOLA and jazz is his thing! Perhaps she can share his college list.