San Francisco Ballet School was able to support its own audition process, which has extended to include the Eastern U.S. since 1979. San Francisco Ballet School has a longstanding relationship with the Prix de Lausanne, awarding full one-year scholarships to the winners of the Swiss-based competition. Admission to the school is by audition only. All students are accepted on a trial basis, with a yearly renewal process that involves evaluation by the faculty and associate director. Students may be awarded merit-based scholarships and Dance in Schools Continuing Scholarships by the School associate director, and they may apply for need-based financial aid. The School is
Ballet San Jose 2006 shortened its name to simply Ballet San Jose. In 2003 the company gained benefactor and current chairman of the board John Fry, co-founder of Fry's Electronics.with a 1 million dollar contribution. Fry helped the company survive the dot-com crash and continued to support the company until he closed it in 2016. Over the years Fry became personally involved and Ballet San Jose faced increasing Fry's support, prompting Karen Loewenstern, founding board chair of Cleveland San Jose Ballet to say "...he bought himself a ballet company." By 2007, still lead by founding artistic director, Dennis Nahat, there was a resident