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2024 Best Music Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

25 Colleges in the Southwest Region
636 Master's Degrees
$28,206 Avg Early-Career Salary
Music is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #36 most popular master's degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

College Factual looked at 25 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Music Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 636 master's degrees in music during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Music School for Your Master's Degree

Best Music Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region Your choice of music for getting your master's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we include a college's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a collection of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

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

More Ways to Rank Music Schools

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Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Music Master's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Music in the Southwest Region

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

10 Top Southwest Region Schools for a Master's in Music

1
Rice crest
Rice University
Houston, TX

Rice University is a great option for students pursuing a master's degree in music. Located in the city of Houston, Rice is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the music program make about $28,275 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in music from Rice University

2
24 Annual Graduates

Texas Christian University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in music. TCU is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Fort Worth.More information about a master’s in music from Texas Christian University

3

Southern Methodist University is a great option for individuals pursuing a master's degree in music. SMU is a large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Dallas.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the music program earn an average of $25,103 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a master’s in music from Southern Methodist University

4

It's difficult to beat The University of Texas at Austin if you want to pursue a master's degree in music. UT Austin is a very large public university located in the city of Austin.

Soon after graduating, music master's recipients generally earn about $24,153 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a master’s in music from The University of Texas at Austin

5

Located in the medium-sized city of Waco, Baylor is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the music program state that they receive average early career income of $19,176.

More information about a master’s in music from Baylor University

6

UNT is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Denton.

Students who graduate with their master's from the music program state that they receive average early career earnings of $21,666.

More information about a master’s in music from University of North Texas

7
33 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Lubbock, Texas Tech is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in music from Texas Tech University

8

University of Arizona is a very large public university located in the city of Tucson.

Music master's degree recipients from University of Arizona get an earnings boost of approximately $7,926 over the typical income of music graduates.

More information about a master’s in music from University of Arizona

9

SHSU is a fairly large public university located in the town of Huntsville.

Those music students who get their master's degree from Sam Houston State University earn $31,175 more than the typical music grad.

More information about a master’s in music from Sam Houston State University

10

Located in the city of Tempe, ASU - Tempe is a public university with a fairly large student population.

After graduation, music master's recipients usually earn about $19,231 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a master’s in music from Arizona State University - Tempe

Best Music Colleges by State

Explore the best music schools for a specific state in the Southwest Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Texas 235 434
Arizona 180 88
Oklahoma 153 93
New Mexico 114 21

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

Music Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
General Music 315
Music Performance 178
Keyboard Instruments 29
Stringed Instruments 29
Voice Performance 24
Jazz Studies 20
Conducting 14
Music Theory & Composition 8
Music Pedagogy 5
Brass Instruments 5

Related Major Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts 219
Drama & Theater Arts 114
Design & Applied Arts 87
Arts & Media Management 31
Dance 29
General Visual & Performing Arts 16
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 2

Notes and References

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