2024 Best Music Schools in California
39
Colleges in California
3,612
Music Degrees Awarded
$23,084
Avg Early-Career Salary
Music is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #43 most popular degree program in the country. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.
For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 39 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for music students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 3,612 degrees in music during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings
Choosing a Great Music School
Your choice of music school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Music School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Music Rankings by Degree Level
When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Music Schools in California list to help you make the college decision.
If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat.
Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.
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Featured Music Programs
Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
MBA in Music Business
Earn the music business degree that fits into the business world – and partners Southern New Hampshire University with world-renowned Berklee College of Music.
Learn More
Best Schools for Music in California
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the music degrees they offer, see the list below.
10 Top California Schools in Music
It's hard to beat University of Southern California if you wish to pursue a degree in music. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means USC is a great university overall.
There were roughly 182 music students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, music degree recipients typically make an average of $22,775 in their early careers.
More information about a degree in music from University of Southern California
University of California - Los Angeles is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in music. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #26 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.
There were roughly 114 music students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent year we have data available. Those music students who get their degree from University of California - Los Angeles earn $9,257 more than the average music student.
More information about a degree in music from University of California - Los Angeles
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
14th
Most Popular In CA
54
Music Degrees Awarded
University of California - Berkeley is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in music. UC Berkeley is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley. A Best Colleges rank of #18 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.
There were approximately 54 music students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in music from University of California - Berkeley
Chapman University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in music. Chapman is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Orange. This university ranks 32nd out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 37 music students who graduated with this degree at Chapman in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the music program earn an average of $21,755 in the first couple years of working.
More information about a degree in music from Chapman University
SFCM is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of San Francisco.
There were about 132 music students who graduated with this degree at SFCM in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, music degree recipients generally earn around $20,970 in their early careers.
More information about a degree in music from San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
19th
Most Popular In CA
42
Music Degrees Awarded
UC Irvine is a very large public university located in the large city of Irvine. A Best Colleges rank of #61 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UC Irvine is a great university overall.
There were approximately 42 music students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in music from University of California - Irvine
UCSD is a fairly large public university located in the city of La Jolla. A Best Colleges rank of #38 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCSD is a great university overall.
There were approximately 27 music students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, music degree recipients usually make around $22,536 at the beginning of their careers.
More information about a degree in music from University of California - San Diego
Bachelor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
73rd
Most Popular In CA
Located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #95 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a great university overall.
There were roughly 8 music students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in music from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo
Master's Degree
Highest Degree Type
28th
Most Popular In CA
$27,000
Median Student Debt
Located in the city of Redlands, University of Redlands is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 45th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 27.000000000000004 music students who graduated with this degree at University of Redlands in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in music from University of Redlands
Located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #45 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCSB is a great university overall.
There were about 38 music students who graduated with this degree at UCSB in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the music program make an average of $22,669 in their early career salary.
More information about a degree in music from University of California - Santa Barbara
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