<p>The following data on average indebtedness at graduation (gleaned from the College Board’s website) may be useful in comparing schools:
Juilliard: $26000
New England Conservatory: $32000
Mannes: $16000
Manhattan School of Music: $16000
San Francisco Conservatory: $22000
Indiana University: $22000
University of Michigan: $27000
University of Florida: $15000
University of Southern California: $28000</p>
<p>These are just the first schools that I searched for data on (except for the schools for which there was not data on average indebtedness at gradution: the Cleveland Institute of Music, Peabody, and Eastman), so I have not attempted to skew the data at all. Probably the students attending more expensive schools are from wealthier backgrounds and this reduces the average debt at graduation. In any case, I don’t see a clear demarcation between the conservatory debt (the five schools I chose have an average of $22,400) and the university debt (the four schools I chose have an average of $23, 000).</p>
<p>Because these figures are just averages (actual indebtedness will vary from $0 to probably around or over $100 000) and because there are many factors which determine one’s indebtedness, one must be careful not to read too much into or out of the figures.</p>