<p>Do not go into debt with the parent plus loans, etc. Son has a summer job where 2 of the full timers went to big name private schools and took on massive debt and now they are crippled with student loan payments in excess of $7oo/month. In this economy and especially for music majors, it is too financially precarious to finance the entire education. My son truly wanted to study with another teacher but we wouldn’t sign any parent plus loans so he went to the state school which gave him the best deal. He has warmed up to his studio teacher and son is so happy that he won’t be in debt and that he had money left over to buy a new bass this year. He also found out that many of his fellow students were accepted at other schools but chose the state school because it is affordable. He hopes to try again for grad school with the preferred teacher in a few years.</p>