Financial Aid
Assistantships with Illinois Bands are available for Fall 2024. Our package including tuition waiver, stipend, and health insurance benefits is among the best in the field.
Contact Dr. Geraldi for more information.
Program Cost (refer to Fine and Applied Arts rate)
The School of Music offers financial aid to graduate students in the form of graduate tuition scholarships, assistantships, and fellowships. All students who apply by stated deadlines are considered for merit-based awards.
School of Music Fellowships: Fellowships are one-year renewable awards carrying a full tuition and partial fee waiver and a stipend of $5,000 up to $12,000.
University of Illinois Fellowships: It is recommended that applicants who wish to be considered for campus academic fellowships submit or complete an audition as early as possible.
School of Music Assistantships: The School of Music typically awards Teaching and Research Assistantships. These are one-year renewable awards with a stipend. Assistantships at 25% or higher carry a full tuition waiver and partial fee waiver with a stipend.
School of Music Graduate Tuition Scholarships: One-year renewable awards that include a partial tuition and fee waiver.
Graduate Assistantships are available through other departments on campus and require a separate application. For a list of available positions, visit the Graduate Assistantship Clearinghouse.
Need-Based Aid: Need-based aid for domestic students (grants, loans and work-study) is administered by the Office of Student Financial Aid. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is required for consideration.
School of Music policy on years of aid:
MM students: can be considered for up to 2 years of aid from the School of Music
DMA / PhD students: are generally considered for up to three years of aid from the School of Music; however, some programs, including Composition, Music Education and Musicology, may be able to offer additional years of assistance as circumstances permit.
Financial Aid - Requirements for Graduate Applicants
• Domestic applicants must complete the FAFSA and indicate that they are interested in Federal Work Study. A large percentage of our assistantship funding comes from the Federal Work Study program and applicants will not be considered until this has been completed. Please forward a copy of your Student Aid Report (SAR) to musicadmissions@illinois.edu.
• Non-Native English speakers must submit a recent iBT score in order to be considered for teaching or graduate assistantships. Students without an official score of 24 or higher on the spoken portion of the TOEFL will not be considered for assistantships.