Funding
More than 150 fellowships and assistantships are awarded annually to graduate music students. Assistantships are available to graduate students in areas including composition, conducting, music education, musicology, theory, private lesson instruction in guitar, piano, and voice.
Graduate assistantships include tuition benefits, which cover 6 to 14 credits per semester. Appointments between 25% and 50% receive prorated tuition benefits equivalent to double their appointment percentage (e.g., a 25% appointment receives a 50% tuition benefit and a 50% appointment receives a 100% tuition benefit).
Health insurance premiums are subsidized at twice the percentage rate of the graduate assistantship appointment. That is, if a student has a 25% appointment, the department pays one-half of their insurance premiums and they pay the other half. With a 50% appointment, the department pays the full health care premium.
Merit-based scholarships
Graduate students are also considered for School of Music merit-based fellowships. These awards typically cover the cost of resident tuition and can include a non-resident tuition waiver for non-resident students. You are automatically eligible for consideration for these awards as long as you complete the graduate application procedures by the application deadline along with any other materials required (as part of the application process), and complete the proper audition and/or interview required by your program of interest. The School of Music aims to inform all applicants of their admission status by the second week of March.
There also are a limited number of fellowships available through the Graduate School.
Each semester, CLA grants also offer a workshop designed to assist graduate students with funding for dissertation funding and other major projects.
Fulbright Program
The purpose of the Fulbright program is to increase mutual understanding between people of the United States and other countries through the exchange of persons, knowledge, and skills. Past University of Minnesota School of Music Fulbright Scholars include Regina Stroncek, who is researching in Brazil, and Solveig Mebust, who is researching the role of women in music activism and patronage in Norway. Learn more about the Fulbright Program.