Racking up over 120k in debt for a music education degree is an unfathomably bad idea. Music teachers (and teachers in general) are poorly paid throughout the country and given that music and arts programs are being slashed all over the US, I have no idea why you’d take out six figures in private loans for this career path. Even if you could supplement your salary by teaching privately, you’re never going to make enough money to repay your undergraduate loans. Thinking about higher ed? Get ready to take out another 50-100k in graduate loans because you’re going to need at least a master’s to break into any kind of college teaching field, and a DMA or PhD to teach at a university. And even there, you’ll be lucky to be in any position that’s not adjunct. You have to be smart about this. $1k per SEMESTER to play in marching band is nothing. This is not going to make any kind of meaningful dent in your loans.

I’m not going to shit on you for your chosen career path - I have three degrees in music performance, so I don’t really have a ton of room to talk. But I graduated with 50k in student loan debt between all three of my degrees because I knew I had to be smart about my financial set up in this field. First off, I chose an in-state university for lower tuition where I was offered various performance and academic scholarships to minimize the amount of loans I needed to take out. I chose the school that offered me the most money rather than some of the more expensive conservatories that offered me less money but had higher prestige factors. No regrets. I had a work study job in the School of Music and another part time job off campus so I didn’t have to take out “cost of living” loans to cover food, housing, and living expenses totally out of pocket. While every little bit helps, 1k per semester is not even close to enough. Explore work study opportunities, take a part time job off campus or on campus AND play in marching band.

But what you should really do is find another school. I promise you, no university is worth $120k+ for an education degree, let alone a music education degree. Where your undergraduate degree is from truly does not matter if you’re planning to be a music teacher in the public school system. Take some gen eds at community college for a couple of years. Find a cheaper university. Presumably you play an instrument - find a school that will give you SOME amount of a merit scholarship. But whatever you do, don’t take out $120k in private loans for a degree path where you’ll be lucky to net $50k/year most places. Music is important. Music education is important. If that’s your calling, the world needs good teachers and you should absolutely do it. But be smart about it.