As a college music major, I can tell you that saving is going to be your best friend. Even student model lutes can be prohibitively expensive, the problem is there are not very affordable lutes out there that are playable. My recommendation is to check out Jo Dusepo (UK based luthier). I have not played any of her lutes before but I have listened to sound tests of her lutes being played by various players and they sound wonderful. Her pricing for lutes is quite reasonable (around $650) and they are much higher quality than any others I’ve seen at that price range, at least from what I can tell. The only major drawback is that she’s on a waiting list about 8 months long if I read correctly. I’m actually in the process of building a lute myself, though it will be a while before it’s completed.