2023 Best Value Colleges for Music Theory & Composition in the Middle Atlantic Region
23
Ranked Colleges
223
Degrees Awarded
$27,400
Avg Net Price*
It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” ranking.
In 2020-2021, 1,175 people earned their degree in music theory and composition, making the major the 390th most popular in the United States.
Across the Middle Atlantic region, there were 223 music theory and composition graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” ranking analyzed 23 colleges that offered a degree in music theory and composition. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality music theory and composition programs that also have a lower cost than 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
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 in the Middle Atlantic Region” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our 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 in the Middle Atlantic Region
The colleges and universities below are the best for middle atlantic region music composition students.
Top 23 Best Value Colleges for Music Theory & Composition in the Middle Atlantic Region
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend The Graduate Center, CUNY. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list. The Graduate Center is a public institution located in New York, New York. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 1 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The Graduate Center not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #6 on our “Best Music Theory & Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” list.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.
Read full report on Music Theory & Composition at The Graduate Center, CUNY
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Purchase College. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region. Located in Purchase, New York, this small public school awarded 17 diplomas to qualified ’s music composition students in 2020-2021.
Purchase College not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #18 on our “Best Music Theory & Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” list. It costs about $17,701 for middle atlantic region music composition students per year to attend Purchase College.
Read full report on Music Theory & Composition at Purchase College
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend SUNY Fredonia. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list. Located in Fredonia, New York, this small public school awarded 9 diplomas to qualified ’s music composition students in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our middle atlantic region music composition students list, SUNY Fredonia has also earned the #19 rank in our “Best Music Theory & Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” ranking. It costs about $14,378 for Middle Atlantic Region Music Composition students per year to attend SUNY Fredonia.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full SUNY Fredonia Music Theory & Composition Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Brooklyn College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list. Located in Brooklyn, New York, this fairly large public school handed out 26 degrees to qualified ’s music composition students in 2020-2021.
Brooklyn College also made our “Best Music Theory & Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” list, coming in at #15. The yearly cost to attend Brooklyn College is $3,067 for middle atlantic region music composition students.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full Brooklyn College Music Theory & Composition Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Temple University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list. This large school is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 5 ’s music composition degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our middle atlantic region music composition students list, Temple has also earned the #11 rank in our “Best Music Theory & Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” ranking. It costs about $23,888 for middle atlantic region music composition students per year to attend Temple University.
With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.5% 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 Temple
University at Buffalo came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. Located in Buffalo, New York, this large public school awarded 3 degrees to qualified ’s music composition students in 2020-2021.
University at Buffalo not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #16 on our “Best Music Theory & Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” list. It costs about $19,262 for middle atlantic region music composition students per year to attend University at Buffalo.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.8% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%.
Read more about Music Theory & Composition at University at Buffalo
University of Maryland - Baltimore County came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. University of Maryland - Baltimore County is a fairly large public school situated in Baltimore, Maryland. It awarded 4 ’s music composition degrees in 2020-2021.
UMBC also took the #21 spot in our “Best Music Theory & Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” ranking. It costs about $19,460 for Middle Atlantic Region Music Composition students per year to attend University of Maryland - Baltimore County.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%. The undergrad 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 full report on Music Theory & Composition at UMBC
Rider University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. Rider University is a small school located in Lawrenceville, New Jersey that handed out 5 ’s music composition degrees in 2020-2021.
Rider did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #14 on our “Best Music Theory & Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for Rider is $27,882 for Middle Atlantic Region Music Composition students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.
Full Rider Music Theory & Composition Report
Five Towns College ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list. Five Towns College is a small school located in Dix Hills, New York that handed out 1 ’s music composition degrees in 2020-2021.
Five Towns College also made our “Best Music Theory & Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” list, coming in at #23. The estimated yearly cost for Five Towns College is $22,769 for middle atlantic region music composition students.
Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.
Read more about Music Theory & Composition at Five Towns College
Ithaca College landed the #10 spot on the 2023 Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. Ithaca is a private not-for-profit institution located in Ithaca, New York. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 11 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our middle atlantic region music composition students list, Ithaca has also earned the #8 rank in our “Best Music Theory & Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Ithaca College is $34,554 for Middle Atlantic Region Music Composition students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.
Read more about Music Theory & Composition at Ithaca
Nazareth College did quite well in the 2023 Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking, coming in at #11. Nazareth College is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Rochester, New York. It awarded 2 ’s music composition degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our middle atlantic region music composition students list, Nazareth has also earned the #22 rank in our “Best Music Theory & Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Nazareth is $31,108 for Middle Atlantic Region Music Composition students.
With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.0% 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%. Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.
Read more about Music Theory & Composition at Nazareth College
With a ranking of #12, New York University did quite well on the 2023 Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list. This large school is located in New York, New York, and it awarded 50 ’s music composition degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our middle atlantic region music composition students list, NYU has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Music Theory & Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” ranking. It costs about $38,569 for middle atlantic region music composition students per year to attend NYU.
With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 90%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read full report on Music Theory & Composition at New York University
Syracuse University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. Syracuse University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Syracuse, New York. The school has a large population, and it awarded 4 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Syracuse did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #9 on our “Best Music Theory & Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” list. The yearly cost to attend Syracuse is $34,683 for middle atlantic region music composition students.
With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full Syracuse Music Theory & Composition Report
Columbia University in the City of New York did quite well in the 2023 Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking, coming in at #14. Columbia is located in New York, New York and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 6 ’s music composition degrees to qualified students.
In addition to being on our middle atlantic region music composition students list, Columbia has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Music Theory & Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Columbia is $22,823 for middle atlantic region music composition students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 95%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Full Columbia University in the City of New York Music Theory & Composition Report
Manhattan School of Music did quite well in the 2023 Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking, coming in at #15. Located in New York, New York, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 6 diplomas to qualified ’s music composition students in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our middle atlantic region music composition students list, Manhattan School of Music has also earned the #12 rank in our “Best Music Theory & Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” ranking. It costs about $19,111 for middle atlantic region music composition students per year to attend Manhattan School of Music.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.
Read more about Music Theory & Composition at Manhattan School of Music
Catholic University of America did quite well in the 2023 Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking, coming in at #16. Catholic University of America is a private not-for-profit institution located in Washington, District of Columbia. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 2 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
CUA also made our “Best Music Theory & Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” list, coming in at #10. It costs about $34,684 for Middle Atlantic Region Music Composition students per year to attend CUA.
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 school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Music Theory & Composition at Catholic University of America
University of Rochester landed the #17 spot on the 2023 Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. University of Rochester is a fairly large school located in Rochester, New York that handed out 11 ’s music composition degrees in 2020-2021.
University of Rochester not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Music Theory & Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of Rochester is $31,340 for middle atlantic region music composition students.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 92%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.
Read full report on Music Theory & Composition at University of Rochester
With a ranking of #18, The University of the Arts did quite well on the 2023 Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list. This small school is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 1 ’s music composition degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our middle atlantic region music composition students list, UArts has also earned the #17 rank in our “Best Music Theory & Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for The University of the Arts is $39,564 for Middle Atlantic Region Music Composition students.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.
Read full report on Music Theory & Composition at UArts
With a ranking of #19, Susquehanna University did quite well on the 2023 Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region list. Susquehanna University is located in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 1 ’s music composition degrees to qualified students.
Susquehanna also made our “Best Music Theory & Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” list, coming in at #20. The estimated yearly cost for Susquehanna University is $25,396 for middle atlantic region music composition students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Full Susquehanna University Music Theory & Composition Report
The Juilliard School came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. Located in New York, New York, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 13 diplomas to qualified ’s music composition students in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our middle atlantic region music composition students list, Juilliard has also earned the #7 rank in our “Best Music Theory & Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” ranking. It costs about $37,537 for middle atlantic region music composition students per year to attend Juilliard.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.
Read more about Music Theory & Composition at The Juilliard School
Carnegie Mellon University did quite well in the 2023 Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking, coming in at #21. Carnegie Mellon University is a fairly large school located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that handed out 4 ’s music composition degrees in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Carnegie Mellon, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Music Theory & Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” ranking. It costs about $36,775 for middle atlantic region music composition students per year to attend Carnegie Mellon.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%. Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.
Read full report on Music Theory & Composition at Carnegie Mellon
The New School came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking. New School University is a private not-for-profit institution located in New York, New York. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 17 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
New School University not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #13 on our “Best Music Theory & Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for The New School is $44,430 for middle atlantic region music composition students.
The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.
Read more about Music Theory & Composition at New School University
Johns Hopkins University did quite well in the 2023 Best Value Music Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking, coming in at #23. Baltimore, Maryland is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s music composition degrees to 21 students in 2020-2021.
Johns Hopkins not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Music Theory & Composition Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” list. It costs about $23,428 for Middle Atlantic Region Music Composition students per year to attend Johns Hopkins.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.3% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%. With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.
Read more about Music Theory & Composition at Johns Hopkins
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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
- *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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