
[Music Performance](/majors/visual-and-performing-arts/music/music-performance/) degree programs vary widely in price and payoff across the country. A high-value program keeps cost low while graduates go on to earn well.
College Factual analyzed 11 schools to build this 2026 ranking of the best value music performance schools.
What’s on this page:
If you want to know which schools deliver the best value for the music performance degrees they offer, see the list below.
Bob Jones University earned the #1 spot for value among music performance schools in South Carolina. Set in the city of Greenville, Bob Jones University is a mid-sized private not-for-profit institution. In-state tuition and fees average $22,892. Students borrow a median of $20,497 to complete the music performance program here. Soon after graduation, music performance degree recipients from Bob Jones University generally make around $40,538. That is a strong return on a $20,497 median debt.
A rank of #2 makes University Of South Carolina Columbia one of the best values for music performance. Located in the city of Columbia, University Of South Carolina Columbia is a very large public university. The average in-state cost of tuition and fees is $12,688, with out-of-state students paying around $36,298. Students borrow a median of $27,000 to complete the music performance program here. Early-career music performance graduates make about $38,397. That is a strong return on a $27,000 median debt. The acceptance rate is 60%.
More Music Performance Rankings
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Notes and References
This list is compiled by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. The methodology weighs the cost of a degree against the earnings graduates go on to achieve, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Best Value · 11 schools evaluated.
*Averages shown above reflect the top 2 ranked schools only.
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), serves as the core of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
More about our data sources and methodologies.