Grad school Dad. Are grad school scholarship/financial aid experiences similar to undergrad? Are there many full rides with some living money?
For Masters or PhD?
The short answer is yes, there seems to be more funding for grad school musicians and this can include a stipend for living expenses.
One great way to explore where the funding lies (which may vary by instrument type and genre of music) is for your musician to see where students who graduated before him are attending and what offers they received.
The answer is…it depends.
Need based financial aid for grad school is very different than need based aid for undergrad (no Pell grants, for example. And parents don’t usually provide their financials on the FAFSA forms).
Grad school music merit scholarships are completely based on…merit…and the strength of your audition.
Some awards include graduate assistantships that include tuition remission and a stipend. Others are less generous.
And some are sort of location dependent. It’s more costly to live in NYC than in Winston Salem NC, for example. My kid’s aid at UNCSA covered far more in NC than the same amount would have covered in NYC.
Agree…check with others on your instrument to see what’s what.
Also, federally funded grad school loans are now limited. So…check that if you are hoping to use that route also.
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My kid and friends did a master’s as part of a doctorate so it was funded from the get go, with TA stipends and eventually teaching experience. The stipends in, say, NYC would I believe be higher than those in NC.
My son plays viola and is trying to get his masters. He got his first scholarship offer from a school in Canada that he likes with an offer that leaves about 15000 in tuition for the two years and no room and board help. This is starting to look like the undergrad process so I thought I would ask. Other schools are Indiana, Rice, and usc. Colburn is on the list but only has one spot this year for violas. I think the school in Canada is mcgill. There was no mention of chances to ta or anything other than merit so I did not know if there was other things the school could offer.
FWIW it looks like he targeted the ones I have heard that are most generous for grad students.
Fingers crossed that he gets a viable offer.
Is he playing gigs already? I know my son and his cohort were making decent money by the end of undergrad through gigs and taking a student or two. Your son may want to look at the feasibility of some professional work at/near his prospective grad schools. He won’t have a ton of time outside of school and practicing, but it can help.
Rice with grad school has a rep of being pretty good with money. My son went there grad and had pretty much a full tuition scholarship, but it was tuition only. Colburn of course is free everything. One thing that is common, if there is a teacher that likes your son, they can be helpful in trying to get more money.