2026 Best Value Music Schools in North Dakota
[Music](/majors/visual-and-performing-arts/music/) degree programs vary widely in price and payoff across the country. The best values balance affordable tuition against strong post-graduation earnings.
For its 2026 best-value ranking, College Factual looked at 7 schools to find the best return on investment for music students.
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2026 Best Value Music Schools in North Dakota
Below are the schools that deliver the strongest value in music, balancing cost against outcomes.
Best Value Music Schools
Leading the list is North Dakota State University Main Campus, our #1 best value for music in North Dakota. Set in the city of Fargo, North Dakota State University Main Campus is a large public institution. The average in-state cost of tuition and fees is $10,910, while out-of-state students pay about $15,564. Music graduates carry a median of $25,153 in student loans. Soon after graduation, music degree recipients from North Dakota State University Main Campus generally make around $54,076. That is a strong return on a $25,153 median debt. North Dakota State University Main Campus admits about 95% of applicants.
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Notes and References
This ranking is produced by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. The methodology weighs the cost of a degree against the earnings graduates go on to achieve, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Best Value · 7 schools evaluated.
*Averages shown above reflect the top 1 ranked schools only.
- 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).
More about our data sources and methodologies.
