Outside Scholarships
We encourage students to search and apply for outside scholarship funding throughout their degree program. Receiving the greatest amount of outside scholarship funding requires students to consider scholarships beyond the music realm (clubs, religious organizations, ethnic groups, foundations or fellowships, etc.) and to keep the search broad. Please visit our Forms and Links page to begin your search.
State Educational Loans
Some state governments offer an educational loan program. These programs:
- are available to both undergraduate and graduate students (and possibly to parents and relatives), as long as the student is matriculated and enrolled at least half time in a degree program.
- are credit-based and offer interest rates and terms which are very competitive with alternative loans.
- may have both fixed and variable interest rates available, depending on the state.
To learn if your state has a loan program contact your State Education Agency through the Department of Education’s Educational Resource Organizations Directory. Read carefully the loan criteria and contact your State Education Agency with questions.
Private Alternative Loans
Some students choose to borrow a private loan to cover a portion of the cost of education not already paid for by scholarships and federal loans. We encourage students to exhaust all federal loan options prior to applying for a private loan. The federal loan programs generally offer lower interest rates and fees than the private loans.
If a student chooses to pursue a private loan, we recommend comparing the costs associated with various lenders before completing an application. Interest rates, fees, repayment periods, and other benefits can vary significantly between lenders. Often these loans are based on credit-worthiness and approvals are not automatic. The FinAid.org website provides some comparative information regarding private loans. When selecting a loan through a comparative website, be sure to go to the lender’s website to ensure the most up-to-date information about the loan.
The Eastman School of Music does not maintain a preferred lender list. As such, the University has no agreements or relationships with any lenders and does not receive any benefit, financial or otherwise, from the use of private loans by students. For more information on the University’s policies, please see our Student Loan Code of Conduct & Policy on Private Lending.
Special Circumstances
If a graduate student’s financial circumstances have changed drastically due to unemployment, medical expenses, loss of personal funding (Social Security or Child Support), etc., then the student should contact Eastman’s Office of Graduate Studies via email at gdean@esm.rochester.edu. The name of the student should be included in the Subject Line of the email.