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2022 Best Value Music Composition Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region

6 Ranked Colleges
17 Degrees Awarded
$19,300 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Music Composition Schools for a Bachelor's in the Plains States Region

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Music Composition Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region” ranking is part of that endeavor.

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.

Across the Plains States region, there were 29 music theory and composition graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 17 music theory and composition graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,786 and $25,576 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Music Composition Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region” ranking, we looked at 6 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.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the music theory and composition program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Music Composition Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Music Composition Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Music Composition Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region.

Top 6 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Music Theory & Composition in the Plains States Region

#1

University of Northern Iowa

Cedar Falls, Iowa
#3 in overall quality

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Music Composition Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Northern Iowa landed the #1 spot on the list. UNI is a public institution located in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 1 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our plains states region bachelor’s degree music composition students list, UNI has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Music Theory & Composition Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UNI is $15,620 for plains states region bachelor’s degree music composition students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student loan default rate at the school is 3.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Music Theory & Composition at University of Northern Iowa

#4 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Minnesota - Duluth. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Music Composition Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region. UMN Duluth is located in Duluth, Minnesota and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 1 bachelors’s music composition degrees to qualified students.

UMN Duluth also took the #4 spot in our “Best Music Theory & Composition Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Minnesota - Duluth is $17,067 for plains states region bachelor’s degree music composition students.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Music Theory & Composition at University of Minnesota - Duluth

#5 in overall quality

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Music Composition Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Missouri - Kansas City landed the #3 spot on the list. UMKC is located in Kansas City, Missouri and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 9 bachelors’s music composition degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our plains states region bachelor’s degree music composition students list, UMKC has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Music Theory & Composition Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Missouri - Kansas City is $14,643 for plains states region bachelor’s degree music composition students.

Full University of Missouri - Kansas City Music Theory & Composition Report

#6 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Northwestern - St Paul. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Music Composition Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region. Northwestern is a private not-for-profit institution located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The school has a small population, and it awarded 1 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Northwestern did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best Music Theory & Composition Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for Northwestern is $21,871 for Plains States Region Bachelor’s Degree Music Composition students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Northwestern Music Theory & Composition Report

#5

Concordia College at Moorhead

Moorhead, Minnesota
#2 in overall quality

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Music Composition Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Concordia College at Moorhead landed the #5 spot on the list. Concordia College Moorhead is a private not-for-profit institution located in Moorhead, Minnesota. The school has a small population, and it awarded 1 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our plains states region bachelor’s degree music composition students list, Concordia College Moorhead has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Music Theory & Composition Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Concordia College Moorhead is $23,029 for plains states region bachelor’s degree music composition students.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Music Theory & Composition at Concordia College at Moorhead

#6

St Olaf College

Northfield, Minnesota
#1 in overall quality

St Olaf College landed the #6 spot on the 2022 Best Value Music Composition Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region ranking. Northfield, Minnesota is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s music composition degrees to 1 students in 2019-2020.

St. Olaf not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Music Theory & Composition Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for St Olaf College is $23,543 for Plains States Region Bachelor’s Degree Music Composition students.

With a freshman retention rate of 91%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The low student loan default rate of 1.0% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Read full report on Music Theory & Composition at St. Olaf

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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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