it doesn't negate what he was saying

I think Loudmouthbass made some great points. It makes absolute sense if you have serious vocal issues then probably you will not sing well enough after two years (if you do not fix those problems) of a masters program to get hired by professional opera companies and get paid to sing.

I have a grad degree in another field (non-arts), and was told specifically when applying to grad school: Do Not Pay Anything for grad school--nobody should pay to go to grad school. I received a full ride and took out NO loans for my graduate work.

Your post just pointed out how they are more concerned at the schools you applied to about giving money to Masters students than DMA students. Why? It makes absolutely no sense why they would give money to masters candidates rather than doctoral students in the context of academia. In my experience (and my grad work was not in music) the trend is the opposite. Doctoral students in other fields are favored when it comes to grant money and assistantships--they are a better investment for academia since most will end up teaching. They also have more experience and education and are better qualified to teach their own courses and to work as teaching assistants and research assistants to professors.

Your experience also explains a lot. No offense to you personally but people have written threads about DMAs not being able to sing and also how poor the teaching is in some music programs in universities. If they are NOT basing scholarships and assistants on the musical aspects (talent, pitch, range or anything else related to music or performance) it is no wonder that people finishing their doctorates are sometimes unable to sing at the level of professional singers. They are discouraging talented people from pursuing doctorates if they are not giving them money/assistants and instead giving it to masters students.