AMT Lab @ CMU: Every year, thousands of high school seniors across the United States (and a privileged few from countries across the globe) participate in what laymen could only describe as the closest possible experience to a human cattle call: the musical theatre college audition process. From campus visits to testing to prescreens and the final audition, the process can cost thousands of dollars for an auditioner and their family, even without additional support like coaching or a summer intensive program. While, of course, institutional and governmental financial aid is available, these are not resources that are available to all students during their process and education.
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College is truly exclusive, and the performing arts may be the most exclusive of all programs. You must have access to funding to go to college, and the costs are just simply too high to justify for most people. As mentioned in the article, although government aid and scholarships are available, they aren’t available for everyone. And it isn’t just that they aren’t available. It can be incredibly confusing to figure out the government financial aid program and find the information you need. I also appreciate the section on affirmative action. Removing that important policy has created such a disparity in acceptance rates. The mention of less diverse curricula is interesting and true; if we are slowly reducing the exposure of different cultures in the classroom, we are limiting the learning opportunities and creating a less open-minded student body. I hope that universities are considering all of this data and looking to make changes in the future so that everyone can have access to an elite education, not just the rich and white.
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