2023 Best Value Colleges for Music (Income $75-$110k) in District of Columbia

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Music Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking.

In 2020-2021, 25,910 people earned their degree in music, making the major the 43rd most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, music graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $27,160 and had an average of $24,560 in loans still to pay off.

Across District of Columbia, there were 117 music graduates with average earnings and debt of $29,342 and $26,994 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Music Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in music. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality music programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the music program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 Value Music Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $75-$110k” list to help you make the college decision.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. 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 Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $75-$110k

The colleges and universities below are the best for district of columbia music students whose families make $75-$110k.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Music (Income $75-$110k) in District of Columbia

1

Catholic University of America
Washington, District of Columbia

#1 in overall quality

$32,715 Average Net Price

$55,014 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Catholic University of America. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Music Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $75-$110k. CUA is located in Washington, District of Columbia and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 76 ’s music degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at CUA, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Music Schools in District of Columbia” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Catholic University of America is $32,715 for District of Columbia Music students whose families make $75-$110k.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.4% 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Music at CUA

2

American University
Washington, District of Columbia

#2 in overall quality

$33,218 Average Net Price

$50,575 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend American University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Music Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $75-$110k list. Located in Washington, District of Columbia, this fairly large private not-for-profit school awarded 5 degrees to qualified ’s music students in 2020-2021.

The American University did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Music Schools in District of Columbia” list. The yearly cost to attend The American University is $33,218 for district of columbia music students whose families make $75-$110k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. 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%.

Full American University Music Report

3

Howard University
Washington, District of Columbia

#3 in overall quality

$44,529 Average Net Price

$50,572 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Music Schools in District of Columbia For Those Making $75-$110k that were part of this year’s ranking, Howard University landed the #3 spot on the list. Howard is a fairly large school located in Washington, District of Columbia that handed out 19 ’s music degrees in 2020-2021.

Howard not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Music Schools in District of Columbia” list. The estimated yearly cost for Howard is $44,529 for district of columbia music students whose families make $75-$110k.

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 more about Music at Howard University

• Best Value Colleges for Music (Income $75-$110k) in the Middle Atlantic Region
• Best Value Colleges for Music (Income $75-$110k)

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.