Do you get paid for college marching band?

When enrolling in and attending college, it’s a great idea to pursue one’s favorite hobbies and past times, like sports, the arts, or musical studies like marching band! For all those who are interested in joining a college marching band, is it possible to also get paid while playing instruments and marching? After doing extensive research, here are the answers and information about getting paid to march in the big college leagues of marching band!

Musicians do not usually get paid for college marching band unless the band is nearly nationally acclaimed. Although not every college pays the students outright for their skills, some offer scholarships in exchange! Many musicians do get college scholarships depending on their skill level.

Why is it that some college bands do pay their enrolled students for their effort, and some do not reimburse them? Which colleges pay students, which ones offer marching band scholarships instead, and which ones are not able to pay back students at all? Let’s go over what to look out for and marching band resources in order to make the best choice before enrolling for college marching band!

Some College Marching Bands That Do Pay

Some college marching bands offer monetary awards so that their bands will be able to keep growing. Some bands offer payment because they are in the big leagues of college marching bands! Some of the biggest professional marching bands include the Main Street Philharmonic Band, The Patriot Bass Band, The Royal Hawaiian Band, and The Disneyland Bands! (Source)

These bands are at such a high tier of skill level and impressive performance that they pay their musicians like actual employees!

If bands are good enough, they’ll be able to charge more and more money each time they perform. With this money, they’ll be able to pay the students in their band!

Marching Band Scholarships

Something that isn’t known to many aspiring musicians and marchers is that there are literally hundreds of college-level band-related scholarships that are available for applicants! One of the top leading scholarship databases is Fastweb since it offers so many options, along with timelines for applying.

These scholarships help lower a college student’s bill for tuition, thus helping them stay involved in marching band! Even high school students can apply for many of these scholarships before they begin enrollment at college. It’s best to prepare early and apply for scholarships as soon as possible!

Some of the best college scholarships for marching band include ones that are offered by official organizations and the colleges themselves, like the Gene Thrailkill Award, the Stephen and Joanne Williams Marching Band Scholarship, the Sun Devil Marching Band Scholarship, and the Mighty Sound of the South Scholarship.

Each of these scholarships is unique in that they apply to a specific music school, like the University of Oklahoma College of Fine Arts, the Arizona State University School of Music, or the University of Memphis. Nearly every state has its own unique college that offers an impressive scholarship amount for band students and marching band members!

Some scholarships are only offered to some students that are officially majoring in some kind of music field, and some awards are offered if students are involved in specific extracurricular activities, such as marching band.

There are also some scholarships that require a student to be enrolled in college for at least a few semesters before they can receive a scholarship. It always helps to look up specific requirements of various scholarships to make sure the applying student qualifies. Luckily, very young students can begin applying or hunting for the scholarships that fit them as early as in 9th grade!

The best thing a student can do for themselves is begin hunting out scholarships early and apply to many of them often! Doing so will help the student boost their chances of earning a scholarship with the more positions they apply to. For the top scholarship database, Fastweb, students can make their own personal profile on the website as young as at age 13.

There are always going to be opportunities and scholarships to earn since Fastweb has an extensive database of more than 1.5 million scholarships. Users just need to make sure they include on their Fastweb profile that they are in marching band, and then all the band-related scholarships will be recommended to them.

A couple of other famous Universities across the United States that offer band-related scholarships include the following!

Many schools like McNeese State University, Wabash College, Urbana University, the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Idaho State University, and Boise State University are all Universities that have offered notable band scholarships in the past.

Make sure to keep updating the personal profile information on Fastweb so that the database provides the most effective and applicable scholarships!

Rough Take-Home Pay for Musicians

Some of the very best of the best College or other Organization sponsored bands will pay their marchers an impressive $30,000 per year. This example is at the higher level of take-home pay compared to most bands, each one varies by professionalism and state.

For college marching, most students get paid around $750 to $3,000 per year! Although it may not be ultra-common for college bands to pay, the ones that do will often offer amounts like this to help the students participate.

Other Monetary Marching Band Stipends, Incentives, and Perks

One of the most popular ways that students get paid to participate in marching band includes through stipends! Many colleges that have professional marching bands offer stipends of around $200 to $500 for students that meet the qualifications and apply for it! Keep in mind, some college band scholarships or stipends are only awarded after a student audition for it or formally applies.

So make sure to research nearby colleges for their specific requirements when it comes to helping pay for marching band participation. The University of South Florida, also called USF, and the Fresno State Bulldog Marching Band offers stipends like this.

Sometimes, instead of payment, some colleges will help offset the cost or time spent participating in marching band by offsetting the cost of game tickets! This way, students will get discounts or paid-off tickets for important football games. (Source)

Marching Band Position Perks

Some unique colleges offer payment or special attention for specific marching band positions. For example, at the University of Oregon’s Green Garter Band, students in the position of feature twirlers, drum majors, or dance team members would get varying amounts of money to help them continue to participate in marching band.

Research to find out if some colleges offer a full-time tuition scholarship for some band positions! Students may decide to change what position they’ll fill in the marching band if they find out only some particular positions get funded or free rides!

The University of California at Berkeley has even offered an off-the-wall perk to their marching band participants! At this University, band members have been able to stay at a band-only boarding house that helped ease high costs for students.