Merit scholarships for music education majors and the awarding of such varies from college to college. At most schools, these music ed majors still need to audition…and an interview is required often. These two components are weighted highly when considering music education merit money. The GPA etc will get the kid accepted to the college but might not get them accepted into the music ed program.
This student needs to reach out to any college where he is interested in studying to see how merit aid is awarded to music education majors…this varies a lot.
Also, at some schools…you either get music merit or college merit but not both.