@Calliene 's comment above is why I provided my daughter with a list of schools that we could afford without loans, and she researched and picked from there. It appears to be quite a different list than most folks on here, concentrating on public universities that provide OOS tuition waivers and other merit scholarships to folks with fairly modest GPA/test scores. I don’t think any of them are the flagship state universities; the better opportunities in our situation seem to be in the regional ones.
It helps that she graduated in 2017 and is taking this year off to work (which will pay for the “personal expenses” portion of the college cost!), so we have complete info on GPA, class rank, and scores.
We ended up with 12 public/2 private school auditions. And after the scholarship/financial aid package came in for one of the privates, even though it was a large amount it looks doubtful that we could afford it anyway unless there was a pretty hefty talent scholarship.
I realize it is a completely different ballgame for straight-A students with 1400 SATs, but she is in the 3.5/1300 range. And we would have to re-think if we couldn’t afford anywhere without loans (although that’s when need-based financial aid would come into play).
I really think that performing arts graduates are likely to need every penny they make at their “day jobs” to pay their living expenses while they audition, and not worry about paying off loans. And my husband and I are OLD with only 5-6 years until retirement, so we don’t need to be paying off loans either, LOL! My 2 cents worth anyway.