Exactly right! Back to music for a second. I have 3 children who are all pretty serious musicians. The expense is enormous! Private lessons totaling over $500/month year after year not to mention transportation to and from said lessons (good thing I don’t have to work full time). The cost of the instruments (a rental instrument can only get you so far), music books, STRINGS (each strings player needing 3 sets of strings each year which cost a small fortune). Youth orchestra fees (and ours is VERY reasonable) and transportation. Music camps in the summer, etc. etc. And my kids are lucky to attend a public school system with a good music program. Those are getting few and far between. Not many kids have this kind of access. There are few families that have the time or money to devote to music in this way.
There are students from low income backgrounds who get need-based help, and there are students whose parents have the means. As with college tuitions, there is often a middle income group who struggles to pay but does not qualify for help.