A little-known fact about degree-granting music programs in higher education: There is no official ranking of them in the United States. While national rankings influence student recruitment in many academic disciplines, music programs rely heavily on faculty reputation, facilities, scholarships and word of mouth among professionals and peers.
Unlike many academic programs, music schools also face a challenge similar to that of a football team. Success depends not simply on recruiting the most talented individuals but on building an entire roster. A football team cannot succeed with great wide receivers but no quarterback. Likewise, orchestras, wind symphonies, jazz ensembles and choirs require talented musicians to fill many different roles. The quality of those ensembles plays a major role in shaping a school’s reputation.
“We can’t just recruit one student. We have to recruit an entire class,” said Ben Ebener, director of admissions at the Michigan State University College of Music. “Sometimes when a full-ride scholarship is needed to successfully recruit, it puts us in a situation where we have nothing left for anybody else.”
That reality can create what Ebener calls a talent gap. If much of the college’s scholarship funding is committed to a handful of highly sought-after students, fewer resources remain available to recruit the many musicians needed to build strong ensembles across the college.
Even with Michigan State’s accomplished faculty and expanded facilities, scholarship support often remains the deciding factor in a highly competitive recruiting landscape.
“Many students considered to be at the highest level among their peers really want to be here, but another school has made it more affordable. Maybe we just have to get closer and then that student will choose us, but if we do that two or three times, then we don’t have much left to offer the very good musicians who make up the rest of the ensemble.”
Those realities help explain why the MSU College of Music has set an ambitious $30 million goal during the university’s “Uncommon Will, Far Better World” campaign. For Ebener, faculty members and future students, support from donors makes a significant difference. People like Bonnie Larson understand that mission.
Larson has a history of supporting arts programs through donations and service on the boards of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Detroit Institute of Arts, among other organizations. She created the Bonnie A. Larson Aspiring Musicians Endowment to provide scholarships and program support for students attending classes and summer programs at the MSU Community Music School in Detroit, an outreach division of the MSU College of Music.
Larson also supports the college through service on its National Leadership Council. Her most recent scholarship is the Bonnie A. Larson Music Scholarship Endowment.
“For me, if I can focus on endowment, I feel that the gift is a lasting gift,” Larson said. “The endowing of scholarships for music students is a very good fit for me. I know how difficult the recruiting is for promising students, and I felt that this would be helpful in attracting students to Michigan State.”
Larson began building the endowment with an initial gift. Through her bequest, she plans to grow it to its full potential.
“Through my estate gift, my hope is that I will be able to endow that scholarship enough that it will support tuition for a student to go four years through school. That’s my ultimate goal,” she said.
Larson explained the importance of legacy and how her children, as they continue to learn about the good the Larson Endowed Scholarship is doing, can feel the love their mother had for MSU, the College of Music and the education of young musicians. Her appreciation of legacy stems from her parents, Donald and Cecile Borgeson, who were active volunteers at MSU. Larson also established an endowment in the Eli Broad College of Business to honor them and their dedication to MSU.
“Any money in a scholarship makes a difference to a family,” Larson said. “So, I think there’s room for all kinds of scholarships, especially endowed scholarships that the college can depend on year after year. To attract the caliber of student we want, we need more scholarships.”
Four-year scholarships can have an especially strong impact because they allow faculty to recruit differently, using substantial scholarship support to attract exceptional students while preserving other resources to strengthen the broader student body and ensemble experience.
“If I could give every performance studio and academic area a Bonnie Larson Scholarship so that we can lock in one excellent undergraduate for the next four years, that would be ideal,” Ebener said.
Like a successful football program, a great music school needs star performers and talented musicians throughout the roster. Scholarships help make that possible, and gifts like Larson’s provide a lasting investment in the student experiences that define the MSU College of Music.
This story originally appeared on the College of Music site.
