@Calliene 's post above is why I presented my D with a list of only places we could afford without loans, and she researched and picked from there. It helped that she graduated in 2017 and has taken this year off to work, so we have complete info on GPA, class rank, and test scores. It appears to be a quite different list than most of the folks on here, concentrating on state universities that offer OOS tuition waivers and other merit scholarships for (relatively) modest GPA and scores.
We ended up with 12 public/2 private school auditions (and when we got the financial aid/academic scholarship offer from one of the privates, although it was pretty substantial, I don’t think that we could actually afford it anyway.) I know that for the straight-A/1400 SAT students private colleges can be a BETTER deal, that is a totally different ballgame.
I also realize that if we could afford NOTHING without loans, we would have to re-think; but then need-based financial aid would come into play.
I just think that as a struggling performing arts graduate you will need all the pennies you earn to pay for living expenses while you audition, and would not be able to deal with loan repayment too. And my husband and I are old and nearing retirement ourselves, so it seems prudent to not take out parent loans, LOL.