The Relationship Between Private Education and Financial Reward – A Pilot Study Case of Private Music Lessons and College Scholarship

Abstract

A survey was distributed to 126 music ensemble students at two state universities to explore the relationship between the costs of private music lessons and college scholarships.   Participants were asked to describe the costs and benefits of music lessons and report how much music-related college scholarship money they were receiving.  Using the surveyed samples, a positive relationship was found between the total amounts of money spent on private music lessons before attending college and the financial reward received.  The empirical result showed that each $1 spent on private music lessons pre-college resulted in $0.11 music merit-based scholarship in his/her freshmen year at college.  The result remained unchanged after controlling for three socioeconomic factors – parent income level, parent education level, and parent’s music background.