Five schools that offer scholarship to study Music in the USA

Tuition is often the most expensive part of college. It can cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars to over $50,000 a year.

While you may know that full-ride scholarships exist for the occasional outstanding student or athlete, did you also know that a number of colleges cover most or sometimes even all of tuition for admitted students?

Here are five colleges that offer many full-ride scholarships for admitted students who meet specific qualifications.

Imagine paying no tuition just for being from the right place.

Alice Lloyd College, a small private college of under 1,000 students in Pippa Passes, Ky., guarantees no out-of-pocket tuition costs for qualified full-time students from 108 Central Appalachian counties, spanning Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

Students are still required to pay room and board, but if they are admitted (around 10% acceptance rate according to U.S. News & World Report), they can choose from over 30 undergraduate degree programs from a school ranked 40th best regional college in the south by U.S. News & World Report.

You may be able to avoid being a starving musician if you land a full-tuition scholarship at this small private music college in Philadelphia. Well, by doing that and actually being very good at playing music.

According to its website, Curtis Institute of Music provides “merit-based full-tuition scholarships to all undergraduate and graduate students, regardless of their financial situation.” For non-tuition fees, like room and board, you may also land funding from the school or outside the school.

Students must audition to be considered for admittance, and the acceptance rate is slightly below 7%, according to U.S. News & World Report. Students who gain admittance are considered to be “exceptionally gifted” musicians by the school.

If you’re a U.S. citizen or Green Card holder and admitted into Webb Institute, you’ll get a full-tuition scholarship covering four years.

Located in Glen Cove, N.Y., Webb Institute has received several notable rankings from The Princeton Review, including: No. 10 college where students study the most, number three for most accessible professors and No. 12 for best career services. Not to mention, this engineering school grants you an impressive 146-credit bachelor’s degree for cheap or even free if you find a way to get your other non-tuition fees funded.

If a school offered you a full-tuition scholarship as long as you worked on campus, would you take it?

That’s the case with Berea College, a private school located in Berea, Ky. ranked No. 76 for national liberal arts colleges by U.S. News & World Report. Every admitted student gets a four-year tuition scholarship, according to Berea’s website. You may have to pay for dorms, though, which most students are required to live in.

But you’ll still save money in tuition while majoring in one of over 25 degree programs and possibly participating in one of the school’s 50+ campus organizations.

It doesn’t get much better than that, folks.

In New York City, everything is often more expensive. Not Macaulay Honors College.

According to its website, all Macaulay students receive:

You get all that in arguably the greatest city in the world, to study all sorts of interesting topics, like religion and public policy, the future of New York City, entrepreneurship management and much more. This liberal arts honors college sure does it right.

Earning a degree regardless of how it affects your finances can be a wise decision, professionally and personally. But why not earn one for free or cheap? May as well try to score all the financial resources you can by filling out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Whether you go to a college where you don’t have to pay for tuition or go somewhere where you do, applying for scholarships and grants makes sense.

If you are interested in any of these intriguing schools, contact them directly to determine if you qualify for reduced or free tuition.