I can’t believe it’s already time to think about this, but my performance major is already a junior. I know he should/will also talk to people at his school/potential grad schools about this stuff, but I’d love to hear any real life experiences about how to pay for grad school for music, since that seems like it will need to be his next step.
We really won’t be able to help (we’ll have 2 kids in grad school and one undergrad with another one still in middle school when he starts…we just can’t sign up to help fund everyone’s education in perpetuity). He hasn’t had to do loans for undergrad, so we wouldn’t necessarily think some small loans for grad school were a terrible idea. But what else? How much funding is it realistic to expect through scholarships/teaching assistantships/etc? Is it possible to go straight into a funded doctoral program like it is in other subjects? Does it make sense to take a year or two off to work and save money or is that too much time off from doing music full time? What have people’s experiences been?
My infor is old as my kid got his masters in 2009.
Some schools like Yale provide full tuition funding for masters in performance students. Very competitive, but it’s there.
My kid had a grad assistantship at his school. For him, this gave him a very decent salary, but not a reduction in tuition costs. The decent salary covered about 1/2 of his costs. He took out some direct loans, and we paid for living expenses.
Go directly to a fully funded PhD in music? Well…first you would need to find a fully funded PhD in music performance. Perhaps someone else can help here.
Time off to work and save? This would also mean taking private lessons at least during that time, and hopefully playing in some ensembles. But yes, some students do this.
Really, the best person for your musician to talk to is his applied private music teacher at his college. Our kid got great advice about where to apply, etc. Our kid also had some relationships with faculty he studied with in summer music festivals, and he actually attended a masters program where one was faculty. It was a great match.
Is there a reason your musician wants a PhD in music? Or is it just because you hoped it might be fully funded?
I would also add that your undergrad should be talking to seniors or those graduating about their application/audition process as it is happening in real time.
These upper classpeople have been invaluable to my (now) junior who will also be forging this path in a year!
Thank you for starting this thread, @kokotg! I am following along!
Pretty much that. My oldest is in a math phD program, and I was mostly just wondering if the same kind of system even exists for music. He also loves being in college, so probably wouldn’t mind signing up for another big chunk of it all at once
He does talk to people and needs to do it more, but Blair is a tiny school to start with and people who are only majoring in performance are fairly rare there. I’ve encouraged him to start talking to his private teacher, but she’s only been in academia for a couple of years so might not be as good a source of information for this topic in particular as others would be.
My kid started grad school last year (winter quarter) and costs are significantly lower than undergrad was. Sample size of one, but at DePaul his scholarship covers most of tuition (which is much lower than undergrad there) and, while he didn’t get a TA type of award (it went to an artist diploma student who wouldn’t qualify for scholarship) it’s OK since the scholarship covers almost 3/4 of the tuition.
I know this will not likely apply to your son, but my daughter graduated with an undergrad BSOF degree from IU Jacobs–hers was specifically a Bachelors of Science in Voice with an Outside Field in History. (Super similar to a double major without double the gen eds). With her history concentration, she was able to get a GA working in a campus museum. That along with some financial aid (given upon appeal), and loans, allowed her to pay for her own Masters in Vocal Performance at Jacobs. And since graduating, that history concentration has allowed her to work hybrid, flexible office jobs that help pay the rent while she gigs and auditions.
That’s actually a really encouraging story; my son is doing an art history minor, which I’ve encouraged because it seems like a good way to set him up for potential employment in the larger museum/non-profit space (and because he enjoys art history of course). He’s also getting some arts admin/management type experience as manager of the wind symphony (and his work study is at the music library). So it’s nice to hear that that sort of planning/preparation can pay off!
I ask bc in the world of voice, I PhD signifies an academic pursuit. It would cause raised eyebrows when auditioning. As always in classical music, there are expectations of how you build your career. My D was offered an opportunity to do a PhD as she finished her MM. The schools tried to sell her on it but…it is odd for voice…and would only benefit the program not her. No YAP program or opera company would be impressed by it…only confused. It’s doesn’t mean that others haven’t done it successfully…but it would be rare for voice.
Edit…and it’s not a PhD for voice…maybe a DM…I can’t remember…some one on here can correct me please!
I know musicians who have gone directly to funded PhD and also gain a lot of teaching experience. I can PM you. “Funded” meaning free, no tuition, health insurance provided, and a stipend.
The doctoral musicians still had to pass qualifying exams and write a dissertation but I think the standards were a little lower than for the PhD composers.
Canada, the UK and Europe can be more affordable (Germany, the Hague). UK masters are one year.
To do as little as possible that isn’t music? Seriously, his dream job would be contemporary chamber music…like touring with a wind quintet or reed quintet or whatever…but even if he managed that it would almost certainly involve another source of income. I think/he thinks he’d enjoy something in academia, but it’s not necessarily a goal. And even most full professor applied faculty I can think of don’t have phDs. So it might well not make a lot of sense for him.
Yeah, this is the sort of deal my math kid has…but conventional wisdom with math (at least/especially pure math) is that you definitely shouldn’t pay for a phD and that it’s rarely a good idea to pay for a masters
Check with his faculty of course.
Check the educational background of musicians in wind quintets or similar touring groups (or teachers that do/did that…not too long ago).
Use other student contacts at festivals, particular grad students. Some may have taken time off and worked professionally.
I know that this is different than your questions about funding but for grad school it’s not always like UG (finding a top notch school with a good scholarship). You may need to use a bit a precision to find the right school; and you may start looking at professional contacts and location to a degree. And, the funding may come if you match yourself to the right school for your goals. Faculty and peers may be able to help with this.
For voice, for example, if you want an opera career, you really need to be looking at certain schools and location may not matter so much as most of your work will still be done at the school. But my D took a bit of a different path, wanting a broader performance opportunity which meant getting to a city and building contacts. So she could open herself up to other schools/programs that gave more money (as opposed to one of the top opera schools that may have more competition for dollars).
I have seen other musicians do this…emphasis contacts and gigging/professional contacts in grad school as opposed to the academics and school performances.
Anywho…not sure that this is helpful. I just wanted to say that the grad school search can be similar to undergrad if you are going for the more standard opportunities…or more “surgical” based on goals. Funding is definitely available…but it can be all over the place…from nearly full tuition at a less selective but targeted school to 50% at some decent schools to zero at a big name conservatory (my D’s experience). My D did get a fellowship for the near full tuition that required no work, so she could work another job to cover her other costs (but full disclosure this was at a less selective school).
Still, she works professionally performing (and teaching) and had no debt. So just one story to add to knowledge base.
My S was at Music Academy this summer and it was his first time really being exposed to grad and post grad musicians in all areas- voice and full orchestra. He talked to many and got lots of great info and advice from them, as well as the faculty and coaches there.
Yes, grad students will give you the “skinny” on schools and funding sometimes…of course you have to take it all with a grain of salt…my D got that.
While parents assist a lot with UG, in my experience, it really shifts to faculty and peers (even one year up) for grad school. My D had exposure to a lot of grad students and also watched seniors’ experiences when she was junior.
And, btw, for “performance” it is often a DMA (couldn’t remember that last night). I’m no expert so I’m sure there are PhD out there (particularly for composition). But at my D’s UG and grad school, you do an MM first…and then a DMA for performance (generally done by students wanting to teacher at the college level…still a stong performance resume with an MM can suffice here too).
And an MM is good for private teaching…which is often the bread and butter for most musicians.
There is also the path of Artist Diploma- this is not an academic degree, but is focused on performance. I know about this for voice, but does it also exist for instrumental music?
