2022 Best Value Music Composition Schools for an Associate

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Music Composition Schools for an Associate” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

In 2019-2020, 1,117 people earned their degree in music theory and composition, making the major the 415th most popular in the United States.

At the associate degree level specifically, there were 125 music theory and composition graduates with average earnings and debt of $33,082 and $17,678 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Music Composition Schools for an Associate” ranking, we looked at 2 colleges that offer a degree in music theory and composition. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent music theory and composition programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the music theory and composition program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Music Theory & Composition Schools

The music composition school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Music Composition Schools for an Associate”.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Music Composition Schools for an Associate

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Music Composition Schools for an Associate.

Top 2 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Music Theory & Composition

#1

Sinclair Community College

Dayton, Ohio

#2 in overall quality

$4,208 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Sinclair Community College. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Music Composition Schools for an Associate. This fairly large school is located in Dayton, Ohio, and it awarded 6 associates’s music composition degrees in 2019-2020.

Sinclair Community College did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Music Theory & Composition Associate Degree Schools” list. It costs about $4,208 for associate degree music composition students per year to attend Sinclair Community College.

Read full report on Music Theory & Composition at Sinclair Community College

#2

Academy of Art University

San Francisco, California

#1 in overall quality

$34,145 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Academy of Art University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Music Composition Schools for an Associate. San Francisco, California is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private for-profit school handed out associates’s music composition degrees to 4 students in 2019-2020.

Academy of Art University also took the #1 spot in our “Best Music Theory & Composition Associate Degree Schools” ranking. It costs about $34,145 for associate degree music composition students per year to attend Academy of Art University.

Full Academy of Art University Music Theory & Composition Report

Notes and References

References

• 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).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

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