Temple University

Date: Dec 31 1969
Major: Music Education (This Major's Salary over time)
I realize that this is going to be a lot, but this is full of info I wish I had known before coming to Temple.

I came to Temple because it has one of the best programs in the country for my major and are putting out some of the best research in the field. However, there were only 2 assistantship positions available (for several graduate students) and no scholarship money. A few years ago, 10 positions were the norm. The program, although it is bringing a great deal of press(and grant money) to Temple through the research they're conducting, is constantly undergoing budget cuts and because of this, classes have grown from 7 to 30 students in some of my classes (only over the past 2 years!).

Despite this, the tuition has increased beyond what I think is reasonable for a state school and although I have lived here for a few years, rented, and voted, there is no way to obtain in-state funding if you originally moved to PA for school.

All of the undergrad classes I've noticed are taught by PhD students because the professors are busy travelling to other universities to give lectures, so they only teach the masters and PhD courses. I would definitely not come here for the undergrad program.

Financial aid services are a joke and every grad student I've talked to had to practically stalk them to get any information about paying for school and getting an award letter in a timely manner (you wait for about 4 months after being accepted). One such example is that you need to go through AES, NOT your lender, to receive federal loans (something that they do not openly tell grads). Some advice about work study: you will not be automatically given work study, you need to go ask for it and they'll revise your award letter. It would have been nice to find this sort of information on their website (which is primarily geared towards undergrads).

Unfortunately, the Temple staff, regardless of what building they work in, have all been incredibly unfriendly, rude, unhelpful, and condescending. Do not expect anything less.

Lastly, I just want to say that I love my program and that this negative review is primarily due to all the financial and administrative crap I and several of my friends have had to go though.