Hi all,
I would love to be able to go out of my state (Florida) for college but this will only be possible if I receive a good amount of merit aid. What colleges are known for giving out substantial merit aid packages? My preferred major is music business but general business /economics is another one that I am considering
these are my stats
ACT: 34
UW GPA: 4.0
W GPA: 5.76
The best colleges for merit for you are in Florida. With bright futures, you’ve got tuition covered.
If you insist on OOS, your best bets are Alabama, New Mexico, Kentucky. There are some good small private schools, but usually business isn’t an undergrad degree at those schools.
Google best colleges for merit aid. Off the top of my head USC has merit aid and so does Washington & Lee, Vanderbilt and Miami U of Ohio. I’m sure there are many- however I don’t know how many have a music business major.
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
https://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php
https://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php?table=lib_arts
(Click-sort on the two columns labelled “non-need-based aid”; related information also is shown in each school’s Common Data Set, section H2A)
All the above information sometimes is out-of-date by the time you see it. For any schools that interest you, check the individual college websites for the latest available information.
Of the colleges granting large merit awards (full tuition/ full ride) automatically for qualifying stats, Alabama seems to be one of the highest-ranked. Many of the most selective/prestigious schools (Ivies etc.) focus more on need-based aid and offer little or no merit money. There are exceptions, such as the large (and extremely competitive) Robertson scholarship at Duke and UNC-CH. Vanderbilt is a prestigious private university that seems to offer relatively large amounts of merit money.
UMCP has the Banneker Key scholarship program, but the biggest awards go to very few students. Colorado has the Boettcher Scholarship program, but it is limited to Colorado residents attending colleges in Colorado. You may want to check if your own state, or public universities in your state, have similar programs.
Are you female? Many of the women’s colleges offer excellent merit. If you’re interested in music business you could use the consortia at these schools to get the classes and contacts that you need.
- Mt. Holyoke (5-college consortium means you get 5 colleges worth of activities, campuses, class offerings etc)
- Smith (ditto above re: consortium)
- Bryn Mawr (ditto above re: a DIFFERENT consortium)
- Simmons (ditto above re: a DIFFERENT consortium this time in Boston, including one of Boston's really excellent music academies)
- Wellesley--maybe they have cross reg with other schools for the music stuf that you need.
- Agnes Scott
Also for coed look at: Muhlenberg–good music and has business classes.and offers merit – https://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg04_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=623
Syracuse has a music business program. They do have merit. This website (https://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg03_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=130 ) shows that Syracuse gave about 20% of students with zero financial need merit awards that on average were 15K.
Ithaca has a music business program but it’s very expensive. You may want to throw them an app just to see what happens knowing that it’s very expensive and that you would probably choose elsewhere.
Five Towns College is known for music industry stuff. The tuition sticker price is a loe $37K (total including everything) and they give 95% of students about $3500 off through merit – https://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg03_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=1210
SUNY Fredonia has a B.S. in Music Industry. Not sure about merit aid, but for an out of state school, it’s less expensive than most.
http://home.fredonia.edu/musicindustry
What are your parents saying that your net costs need to be to go OOS? They know you have bright futures, so are they willing to pay room, board, books, fees, etc if you go OOS?
alabama would certainly work for you. Not only a very good B school, but also a very good college of Music (haven’t looked but maybe there’s some courses that fit Music Business)
You may want to repost on the Music Forum, to get some feedback specific to merit friendly schools that are good for music business. Certainly USC-Thornton School of Music.
https://catalog.ua.edu/undergraduate/arts-sciences/music/music-arts-administration-concentration-ba/
it looks like UAlabama does have a music business administration option.
if you’d prefer for your major to be “more business” for marketability, then you could major in business and minor in Music or double major.
As you noted…Those Yolesite links you posted haven’t been updated for a couple of years…at least. They are VERY outdated. VERY.
Some of those scholarships don’t even exist at all anymore. Many have been reduced in dollar amounts. Some have different criteria for being considered.
Here is a more recent thread about scholarships…but the OP needs to start at the BEGINNING of the thread because some posters really took it off the topic. Even with that, this info is at least a year old in most cases…so check EACH college website for current information and accuracy.
I’m concentrating more on your interests than your costs, for good or bad. You should be aware many programs seem to require musical proficiency, so if you don’t have that… I think the professional music trade associations have scholarships, if you care to research that angle. There’s always U of Miami, which has a pretty large program.
These are the ones I’ve heard about: Belmont University in Nashville has a highly regarded Music Business major. The sticker price is expensive, but I hear they give nice merit. Your stats would likely qualify. Other places you might consider are Berklee in Boston (known more for performance-based studies, but also does business. VERY expensive), and Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro (doesn’t seem to be very affordable for OOS, or offer substantial aid).
Less known to me are Georgia State and Berry in Atlanta. I know nothing about the college or its Music Industry major, but Francis Marion University in South Carolina claims to be the lowest cost college in South Carolina. Good luck to you!
This program at Northeastern sounds like what you are looking for https://camd.northeastern.edu/music/academic-programs/bs-in-music-industry/ and they do give some good merit for high-stat applicants. Without NMSF I don’t know if you’ll get enough to bring it into your price range, but it could be worth a try. Odds of substantial merit might be better at the similar program at Drexel http://drexel.edu/westphal/academics/undergraduate/MIP/ (And Drexel makes this list https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8463104/top-music-business-schools-2018-billboard where Northeastern does not. That list may give you some other ideas as well.) Both Drexel and Northeastern have Early Action, so you can apply early and find out before the holidays whether they’re offering enough merit to be viable options.
You NEED to define substantial merit. The absolute largest merit awards at many of the schools mentioned above still leave a hefty balance to be paid. It all depends on the perspective. For example, from Bryn Mawr
but the COA is approx $70,000. Is that substantial merit? Or are you thinking more along the lines of a balance of under $10,000?
Without clarification, all of the suggestions are random.
How many apps can you pay for and have time to complete? Your stats could put you in the running for some full tuition merit awards at private liberal arts colleges but they are super competitive. You couldn’t count on them.
Look for schools with the major your interested and then see what they offer. If you have a few extra apps available you might throw a couple in.
You would qualify for substantial merit aid at Arizona State University, University of Arizona and Temple University.