The university will need to provide substantially more funding for scholarships to students that participate in the band if they ever wish to get numbers in the 200 range. I think the music department staff has done an exceptional job recruiting kids into the program with the limited financial resources available. If memory serves me, the most kids in the band over the last 25 years was in the neighborhood of 130.
Band kids are generally come from middle class families, have the work ethic and intelligence to be successful at the University of Tulsa, but generally the combined aid package offered doesn't allow for TU to be a viable option for most of these students. Of course there are always exceptions, and some specials scholarships available but those are limited. We're not one of the big universities where the athletic department provides the bulk of financial support for athletic bands.
That's pretty accurate. I believe in the 05-09 era we had close to 140-150, but I don't recall the exact number.
As to your assertion regarding financial aid. Most students at TU (excluding international) receive a hefty amount of financial aid. Personally, i received both an academic and music scholarship even though I wasn't a music major (my music scholarship alone accounted for over 25% of my annual tuition). Of course I have student loans, but the music scholarships are available and if a kid is willing to do their part, they very well could be awarded a $10k/year scholarship like I was. So couple that with academic scholarships (which most kids accepted to TU are eligible for) and you've got a good chunk of tuition paid for.
I completely agree with your point about athletic department subsidies for athletic bands... I know that the athletic department did a few things for us, but the bulk came from the school of music and the college of arts and science. If we got any new stuff it was typically because a donor wrote a check for it (i.e. The uniforms before the new ones we got last year, new tubas, and various trips to away games).
I truly enjoyed every minute of my time in the band. In fact the band and my fraternity (PiKA) are what made TU such a great experience.
So, if a kid is interested in band at TU, they will have a place and there's a good chance they'll get a decent award for their time along with their other awards.