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2024 Best Music Doctor's Degree Schools in California

11 Colleges in California
88 Doctor's Degrees
$40,785 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you pursue a doctor's degree in music, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #22 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

College Factual reviewed 11 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for doctor's degree seekers in the field of music. Combined, these schools handed out 88 doctor's degrees in music to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Music School for Your Doctor's Degree

Best Music Doctor's Degree Schools in California Your choice of music for getting your doctor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality music program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

The overall quality of a doctor's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of doctorate graduates during the early years of their career. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their doctor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for music students working on their doctor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Music Rankings Other Ranking Categories

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 Doctor's Degree Schools in California list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Music in California

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for music students seeking a a doctor's degree.

10 Top California Schools for a Doctorate in Music

1

University of Southern California is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in music. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Los Angeles.

Doctorate graduates who receive their degree from the music program earn an average of $36,397 in their early career salary.

More information about a doctorate in music from University of Southern California

2

University of California - Los Angeles is one of the best schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in music. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Music doctor's degree recipients from University of California - Los Angeles earn a boost of approximately $4,388 over the average earnings of music majors.

More information about a doctorate in music from University of California - Los Angeles

3
8 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in a doctor's degree in music needs to check out University of California - Berkeley. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public university located in the city of Berkeley.More information about a doctorate in music from University of California - Berkeley

4
8 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat University of California - San Diego if you wish to pursue a doctor's degree in music. UCSD is a very large public university located in the city of La Jolla.More information about a doctorate in music from University of California - San Diego

5
9 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in music from University of California - Santa Barbara

6
3 Annual Graduates

UC Irvine is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Irvine.More information about a doctorate in music from University of California - Irvine

7
4 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in music from University of California - Davis

8
4 Annual Graduates

UC Santa Cruz is a large public university located in the small city of Santa Cruz.More information about a doctorate in music from University of California - Santa Cruz

9
1 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Riverside, UCR is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in music from University of California - Riverside

10
4 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Claremont, Claremont Graduate University is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a doctorate in music from Claremont Graduate University

Best Music Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Music Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 122 16
Oregon 107 8
Nevada 84 5
Hawaii 53 1

View All Rankings >

One of 10 majors within the Visual & Performing Arts area of study, Music has other similar majors worth exploring.

Music Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
General Music 43
Music Performance 10
Musicology & Ethnomusicology 9
Stringed Instruments 7
Music Theory & Composition 4
Keyboard Instruments 4
Voice Performance 4
Other Music 3
Jazz Studies 1
Music Pedagogy 1

Related Major Annual Graduates
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 20
Fine & Studio Arts 16
Drama & Theater Arts 15
Other Visual Art 7
Dance 3
General Visual & Performing Arts 1

Notes and References

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