<p>I personally believe that I may have more success within a state school, for numerous reasons (Cost, friends/social groups, More opportunities to broaden horizons etc.) And I was wondering if anyone could assist with compiling a list of state schools with MT BA's and BFA'S.
Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>If you look at the Big List of MT colleges pinned near the top of the threads on this forum, and it is arranged by state, you can sift through and find which are state universities pretty easily:</p>
<p><a href=“Big List of MT Colleges: By State - Musical Theater Major - College Confidential Forums”>Big List of MT Colleges: By State - Musical Theater Major - College Confidential Forums;
<p>Keep in mind that state universities, when OUT OF STATE for YOU, are not always necessarily cheaper. Also, sometimes they have less financial aid to give than privates. </p>
<p>Some states have reciprocity agreements with surrounding states so look into that as well. Many times it gives you close to in state pricing. In my D’s case out of state schools and private schools offered more scholarships and beat the instate school pricing </p>
<p>Costs vary enough that generalizations are tough to make. Some states, like Texas, have in-state tuition rates that are so low that they are tough to beat on any basis for residents ($10,000 per year or less - it takes huge scholarships to get $30-40,000 private school tuition down to $10,000), plus low room and board. Some states have relatively low out of state rates so they are a bargain. Variance is high across the country.</p>
<p>Out of state costs are almost as much as going to a private university, in many cases. So, it depends on what state you live in, where (if anywhere) has reciprocal arrangements, etc. There are plenty of threads on this forum discussing costs. </p>
<p>Texas State gives a small scholarship to their BFA students which qualifies them for instate tuition. And Utah offers instate to their BFA kids starting the sophomore year (check on the procedure for that one).</p>
<p>Wright State (Ohio) has a terrific BFA MT program and is “affordable” both in-state and OOS. If you have good test scores and/or GPA it can be VERY affordable (up to full ride). University of Arizona and Alabama also have generous merit opportunities. IU is reasonable IS, but relatively astronomical OOS - with very little hope of bridging the OOS gap w/o phenomenal test scores/GPA (no reciprocity agreements). My S was accepted to IU, got a talent and "hefty"merit scholarships, but they didn’t even cover the OOS mark-up. There is a school in Michigan (Eastern??) that has reciprocity with some states.</p>
<p>Oh, and there’s this little program at the University of Cincinnati (state school) - CCM - with very generous merit scholarships. Also possible reciprocity with northern Kentucky, perhaps others.</p>
<p>Webster, ball state, UW Stevens point have reciprocity with Michigan. BOM and one other national tour that just went through had students from U of South Dakota and their tuition is very reasonable. The in state for Utah is fairly easy to get after your freshman year. To get FA for the first year you have to have everything in by Dec 1st.- we did a walk-in at Unifieds and missed out on merit. Also once you get your FA packages at the end you can let your school of choice know and see if you can get some more money from them. </p>
<p>James Madison University – VA
Plymouth State University – NH,
University of NH – NH
University of Rhode Island – RI (Acting BFA with music minor)
Christopher Newport – VA</p>
<p>are a few others to look into. cost will vary depending on talent/ merit… IS/ OOS… etc…</p>
<p>JUST SO EVERYONE IS AWARE, The reason i mentioned cost is because i have a high GPA and think state U’s will offer more merit with that so yeah!</p>
<p>My son’s private school awarded merit and talent scholarships which brought the cost down to equal our in-state school, and he is not a tippy top student. Some schools outline their merit award amount and criteria on their website, so you may want to check that out.</p>
<p>University of Utah students are eligible for in-state tuition by fall of sophomore year IF they take certain steps. Not just for BFA students. My daughter is now a resident and our tuition dropped by $20k/year for the next three years! Not for students using the WUE discount for Freshman year. Basically you must stay the summer, get a drivers license, not spend extensive time out-of-state during the year, and not be listed on your parents tax return for the tax year that ends during Freshman year. If anyone wants more details, feel free to contact me by message. </p>
<p>Many state universities do not have a lot of merit money to give. You may find more academic merit money from private universities. However, depending on the cost of the state school (often your IS university, and perhaps for some OOS universities) the COA at the state school may still be lower than the private university with merit.</p>
<p>University of Alabama is a state university that offers guaranteed merit for certain stats.</p>
<p>Coastal Carolina participates in the SREB Academic Common Market – if you live in MD and study MT or Physical Theatre at Coastal you qualify… <a href=“http://home.sreb.org/acm/SearchResult.aspx?state=MD”>http://home.sreb.org/acm/SearchResult.aspx?state=MD</a> … not sure about other states. </p>
<p>University of Oklahoma; video or unifieds serve as prescreen, followed by on-campus callback for MT BFA; very aggressive merit scholarships</p>
<p>I agree with all above. If you have great grades and scores, don’t rule out the privates. </p>
<p>When we researched this we found a few state schools that had BOTH great MT programs/reputations and very aggressive aid packages which make it really hard to say no to. While yes, private schools can have generous scholarships, you cannot discount the ability to have state level of tuition (even if out of state), academic scholarships available AND talent awards. In this category I would say Florida State, Texas State, Oklahoma University and Penn State have some of the more aggressive packages. </p>
<p>My daughter got into Penn State (from out of state) for MT and it was the lowest financial aid/merit package of 7 BFA schools we got packages from. She attended a private university that gave her the largest package of all the packages. </p>
<p>Montclair (NJ) has a great MT BFA program with FA available to OOSers. Even without FA, it is very reasonable. And a 24 minute bus ride to Manhattan. :-bd </p>
<p>@broadwaybum - I know you asked about BGSU in another thread. If you are near OH, another school you might want to consider is Northern Kentucky University. It is near Cincinnati. I just posted a lot of thoughts about it in another thread (BA/BFA late decision thread). State school, good theatre program with both BA & BFA options, good scholarship options for people with good grades and test scores, nice honors program, etc. </p>