It’s dangerous to make generalizations about how much a certain voice type or instrumental applicant can expect to receive in merit money. Factors that can impact the amount can be but aren’t limited to:
- That year’s applicant pool in terms of number and quality
- What the department needs: If they have 16 sopranos scattered among the 4 years but are short on low mezzos, then the higher voices won’t get the bigger offers. If the department is planning some Handel operas then they’ll be looking for voices that can sing Baroque music and that move well, while they might pass on the full lyric sopranos that round.
Maybe they’re graduating the two trombone players who are comfortable on bass trombone too, so guess who is going to get the funding there?! - Overall funding in the school/department. That can swing from year to year and is dependent upon a lot of things.
- Grades and standardized test scores- These can lead to more $$ at more schools, particularly for VP majors because they take more “academic” subjects than their instrumental peers (adding in languages, diction, op shop, etc).
Some schools are known for not being forthcoming with funding but even they can loosen the purse strings if the situation is right.