NEW HAVEN—Late last month, the Yale School of Music announced a surprising gift of $100 million from anonymous donors. According to acting dean Thomas C. Duffy, the school will waive tuition for all students starting from the school year of 2006-07.
Hailing the gift as “transformational,” Robert L. Blocker, the former dean of the School of Music from 1995 to 2005, predicted that it will afford opportunities for incoming students and faculty.
The school currently charges $23,750 for tuition and enrolls 211 students, 40% of whom are non-U.S. citizens. Duffy said that the school has no immediate plans to expand enrollment, but additional student stipend, expansion of exchange programs, and upgrade of technological services are on his list of priorities.
Starting next month, Duffy said, the school plans to offer a real-time clinic that will allow students to collaborate with their peers in another country. Another technological upgrade will enable Yale concert halls to stream music and make it available live on the Internet to a worldwide audience.
Duffy said that he hopes this generous gift will challenge other people and institutions to support the music and the arts. “I want someone in the middle of the country to say, ‘I want my alma mater to have the same leadership potential as the Yale School of Music and step up its support of students,’ ” he said.
The president of the renowned Juilliard School Joseph W. Polisi, who holds three graduate degrees in music from Yale, welcomed the news. When asked whether Yale School of Music’s policy change would affect Juilliard, he said that the two schools are not comparable because they offer different programs.
Polisi added that Juilliard’s financial aid policy, which is based on need and merit but also offers free admission to doctoral and other programs, draws from the school’s long-term experience.
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