Financial Aid & Scholarships

There are two sources of funding for students:

  1. The University offers Scholarships and Financial Aid for incoming and continuing students.
  2. The Music Department also offers Scholarships for incoming and continuing students. Incoming students are automatically considered for a Music Department scholarship based on the additional materials submitted / presented during the application process.

Undergraduate Music Scholarships

Every year, the Department of Music offers scholarships to incoming and continuing music undergraduate majors. Scholarships are awarded to students who demonstrate exceptional skills in their field.

There is no formal application for these scholarships:

  • Incoming students who audition through the application process are automatically considered for these (and all other Music Department) scholarships.
  • Continuing students are selected on the basis of their accomplishments within the Music Department.

The Robert Bornfield Memorial Scholarship is awarded to a student (incoming or continuing) majoring in Music with a declared principal medium voice

The Bruce H. Hughes Memorial Scholarship is awarded to an incoming music major. To qualify for this opportunity, applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:

  • Be an incoming music major
  • Must have been selected by Professor David Stern or his successor through an audition
  • Must have a principal medium of voice
The Donald and Pat Smith Scholarship is awarded to students (incoming or continuing) majoring in Music. 

The Eugene Tucker Scholarship is awarded to an incoming undergraduate freshman or undergraduate transfer student admitted to the degree program in Music. To qualify for this
opportunity, applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:

  • Be an incoming undergraduate freshmen or undergraduate transfer student admitted to the B.A. in Music degree
    program in Music
  • Be enrolled full‐time in the Music program
  • Have a minimum 3.0 GPA in high school or previous undergraduate study
    Demonstrate outstanding musical ability and potential based on entrance audition(s)
The Jim Bertram Memorial Music Scholarship is awarded to students (incoming or continuing) studying Music.

The Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation Scholarship is awarded to incoming undergraduate freshman or undergraduate transfer students admitted to the degree program in Music. To qualify for this opportunity, applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:

  • Be an incoming undergraduate freshmen or undergraduate transfer student admitted to the B.A. in Music degree
  • Be a full‐time student
  • Be selected by audition before a scholarship committee of Music Department faculty

The Glasow Undergraduate Commission Award provides for the commission and performance of a new composition by an undergraduate composer in the Music Department. 

The recipient of the Kira Sullivan Hernandez scholarship will be a vocal music student in good standing with a grade point average of 3.0 or higher.

“The purpose of life is to discover your gift.
The work of life is to develop it.
The meaning of life is to give your gift away.”

Kira’s gift was her musical talent. From the time she could talk, she was singing.

Her formal music education included two years at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Preparatory Division, during high school. She went on to the University of Toledo and then, after one year, transferred to CSU East Bay. She received her bachelor's degree, majoring in vocal studies, in 2012. Kira was a soprano section leader, a Dr. David Stein Award Winner for Choral Excellence, the soprano soloist for the East Bay Singers’ performance of the Mozart Requiem with Vilnius Pro Musica, and a member of the Chamber Singers on their trip to Lithuania in 2009. She performed in many opera and musical theater productions throughout the Bay Area.

After graduation, Kira became a piano and voice teacher. She operated a successful business, Sullivan Studio, with her husband Jorge, another CSUEB alumnus. A rare form of kidney cancer cut her life short four days before her thirtieth birthday. Her gift will live on through this memorial scholarship.

1. Be an undergraduate or graduate student in good standing and majoring in music with an emphasis on vocal performance. If there are no eligible applicants studying vocal performance, then students majoring in piano may apply.

2. Has demonstrated excellence in chosen discipline through musical performance.

Hybrid (Graduate or Undergraduate) Music Scholarships

The Lawrence G. Granger and Timothy M. Smith Scholarship is awarded to undergraduate or graduate students studying Music. Preference will be given to undergraduate students, however graduate students may apply. To qualify for this opportunity, applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:

  • Be in good standing at the University
  • Be a full‐time student
  • Demonstrate musical and academic success measured either by
    • active participation as string instrumentalist in the Music department performances, or
    • matriculation to the senior year of study in the music education degree program and/or acceptance in the state credential program (must have received the baccalaureate music degree from CSUEB)
  • Provide written recommendation of musical and academic success as witnessed by a full‐time or part‐time faculty member with whom the candidate has successfully completed a course.
The Friends of the Arts Scholarship in Music is awarded to students (incoming or continuing) studying Music (undergraduate or graduate).

Music Department Graduate-Specific Financial assistance

Teaching Associate assignments primarily involve classroom and laboratory instruction. Typical responsibilities include, but are not limited to: classroom or laboratory instruction, making assignments to students, preparing course materials, administering examinations, assessing student performance, tutoring students and determining course grades. Duties can also include assisting faculty with field experience, supervision, simulation exercises and/or research projects.

Eligibility:

  • Admitted to a CSUEB graduate degree program that is directly related to the discipline to which the individual is assigned
  • Current enrollment in semester of appointment
  • Making sufficient progress in good standing towards the graduate degree, i.e., maintaining a 3.0 G.P.A. and enrolled in courses for the degree or completion of the thesis, project or comprehensive exam within two years after completing all required course work

 GTAs (considered G1 CSUEB employees) get paid per course-unit assigned.

Instructional Student Assistant (ISAs) assignments primarily involve teaching, grading and/or tutoring duties.

Eligibility:

  • Completion of specific coursework that is directory related to the discipline to which the individual is assigned.
  • Currently enrolled in at least 4 units
    OR
  • Previously enrolled for at least 4 units in the preceding semester, worked as a Student Assistant and is either taking a recess semester off and therefore is not enrolled as a student or is enrolled in less than 4 units.

ISAs are allowed to work a maximum of twenty (20) hours per week. Rates (per hour) vary depending on ISA employment level (1-3).

The Glenn Glasow Graduate Fellowship in Composition is awarded annually to a graduate student who shows outstanding potential as a music composer. Recipients of the fellowship receive financial support for one year of graduate study and are expected to premiere an original composition at the annual Glenn Glasow Memorial Concert in the Spring Semester. This concert, now a longstanding tradition, began during Glasow's lifetime. In 2009, his family established The Glenn Glasow and Yoshiko Kakudo Endowment in Music Composition to ensure that the annual memorial concert continues providing a showcase for works by Cal State East Bay alumni, faculty, and students.

Glasow was a professor of music and Asian studies from 1961 to 1995. Born in Minnesota, he attended Hamline University, studied music in Germany on a Fulbright grant and earned a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. Before joining the faculty at Cal State East Bay, Glasow was the music director at radio station KPFA. In addition to teaching, he was also an active composer and an expert in world music, particularly the music of Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu

There is no formal application for this fellowship. Recipients are selected on the basis of scores submitted through the program application process and through student accomplishments in their private composition lessons.