Agreed, each program is different and YMMV. That is why it is important to ask the questions of the schools. Unfortunately, we did not know early enough what questions to ask.
Here is a biggie:
What are music students expected to pay for over and above published tuition and fees?
Why ask this one? Because you may not find it on their web site. Some schools provide for everything in their tuition, but do not tell you that. Other schools make you pay for your accompanist, recital hall, computer cards top track performance attendance,