Schools that do not give a lot of merit/financial aid

College Majors Musical Theater Majors
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  1. Almost all schools include a net price estimator that in many cases will include a pretty accurate picture of merit and need-based aid for a specific set of grades, test scores, family income, etc. These are not always accurate, however, and will definitely not include talent-based merit aid. If the number comes out lower than you expect, then call the financial aid office and ask for clarification for general aid and the theatre department for typical talent award amounts.
  2. You can look up average statistics for merit aid and need-based aid on collegedata.com, use the search box to find a school and look under the "Money Matters" tab. For example, the report for NYU is shown below and indicates that only 6.1% of undergrads receive non-need-based merit aid and the average amount was $7,882, which is not very much compared to the cost of attendance. Other schools give much higher merit aid amounts vs. the cost of attendance.

All Undergraduates
Financial Aid Applicants 14,934 (63.7%) of undergraduates
Found to Have Financial Need 12,366 (52.7%) of applicants
Received Financial Aid 12,051 (97.5%) of applicants with financial need
Need Fully Met 833 (6.9%) of aid recipients
Average Percent of Need Met 62%
Average Award $36,042
Need-Based Gift
Received by 10,997 (91.3%) of aid recipients, average amount $27,699
Need-Based Self-Help
Received by 10,182 (84.5%) of aid recipients, average amount $6,539
Merit-Based Gift
Received by 9 (.1%) of aid recipients
Merit-Based Gift 1,424 (6.1%) of undergraduates had no financial need and received merit aid, average amount $7,882

  1. Two years ago I compiled non-need based merit aid stats for many MT programs from collegedata.com:

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1745140-which-schools-give-the-best-merit-aid-another-freakonomics-post-p1.html

In general, the higher the school is ranked, the lower the merit aid available. This is because merit aid is basically a “tuition discount” offered by the school to attract students that exceed their average stats and, hence, improve their rankings. The higher the school is ranked, the higher the bar and the less the merit aid amounts.

  1. Every now and then you will hear a "bolt from the blue" story about someone who did receive an amazing merit aid package from a school like NYU, so, some individuals are able to beat the odds and averages.