by our College Data Analytics TeamCollege Factual looked at 458 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Music Bachelor's Degree Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 15,362 bachelor's degrees in music during the 2020-2021 academic year.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
Earn the music business degree that fits into the business world – and partners Southern New Hampshire University with world-renowned Berklee College of Music.
The music bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. 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:
The overall quality of a bachelor'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 consider a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a combination of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their bachelor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your bachelor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for music students working on their bachelor's degree.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Music Bachelor's Degree Schools ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
Learn about start dates, transferring credits, availability of financial aid, and more by contacting the universities below.
Earn the music business degree that fits into the business world – and partners Southern New Hampshire University with world-renowned Berklee College of Music.
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in music. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
Northwestern University is a good decision for individuals interested in a bachelor's degree in music. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Bachelor's recipients from the music program at Northwestern University get $12,131 above the standard graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
More information about a bachelor’s in music from Northwestern University
Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in music needs to take a look at University of Southern California. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the music program make an average of $17,245 in the first couple years of their career.
More information about a bachelor’s in music from University of Southern California
It's difficult to beat The Juilliard School if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in music. Juilliard is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.More information about a bachelor’s in music from The Juilliard School
Every student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in music needs to check out The University of Texas at Austin. UT Austin is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Austin.
Music bachelor's degree recipients from The University of Texas at Austin receive an earnings boost of about $20,410 above the average income of music majors.
More information about a bachelor’s in music from The University of Texas at Austin
Emory is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Atlanta.More information about a bachelor’s in music from Emory University
Located in the large city of Houston, Rice is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a bachelor’s in music from Rice University
Located in the city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. Soon after graduation, music bachelor's recipients usually make an average of $26,788 in the first five years of their career. Located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a fairly large student population. Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the music program state that they receive average early career income of $21,629. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Notre Dame.More information about a bachelor’s in music from University of Notre Dame NYU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of New York. Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the music program report average early career earnings of $23,570.7
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Carnegie Mellon is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Pittsburgh.More information about a bachelor’s in music from Carnegie Mellon University
Duke is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Durham.More information about a bachelor’s in music from Duke University Located in the town of Hanover, Dartmouth is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.More information about a bachelor’s in music from Dartmouth College Michigan State is a very large public university located in the small city of East Lansing. Those music students who get their bachelor's degree from Michigan State University earn $9,133 more than the average music student. Columbia is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York.More information about a bachelor’s in music from Columbia University in the City of New York12
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UCLA is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Los Angeles.
Soon after graduation, music bachelor's recipients usually make about $19,508 at the beginning of their careers.
More information about a bachelor’s in music from University of California - Los AngelesUW - Madison is a very large public university located in the city of Madison.More information about a bachelor’s in music from University of Wisconsin - Madison SMU is a large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Dallas.More information about a bachelor’s in music from Southern Methodist University TCU is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Fort Worth.More information about a bachelor’s in music from Texas Christian University Yale is a large private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of New Haven.More information about a bachelor’s in music from Yale University17
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Annual Graduates$18,417
Median Student Debt19
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Annual Graduates$23,500
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WUSTL is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Saint Louis.More information about a bachelor’s in music from Washington University in St Louis
U Miami is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Coral Gables. Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the music program state that they receive average early career wages of $18,726. Oberlin is a small private not-for-profit college located in the fringe town of Oberlin. Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the music program make about $20,910 in their early career salary. UIUC is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Champaign.More information about a bachelor’s in music from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Located in the large city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the music program state that they receive average early career earnings of $13,282.22
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Annual Graduates$24,625
Median Student Debt25
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This list shows the rest of the colleges awarded a Best Music Bachelor's Degree Schools badge.
Showing in this list means the school was ranked in the top 15% of the 458 different United States music schools we analyzed.Rank College Location 51 University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA 52 University of Cincinnati - Main Campus Cincinnati, OH 53 Lafayette College Easton, PA 54 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC 55 University of Iowa Iowa City, IA 56 Ohio State University - Main Campus Columbus, OH 57 St Olaf College Northfield, MN 58 James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA 59 West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA 60 Luther College Decorah, IA 61 Temple University Philadelphia, PA 62 Tulane University of Louisiana New Orleans, LA 63 Cleveland Institute of Music Cleveland, OH 64 University of California - San Diego La Jolla, CA 65 Tufts University Medford, MA 66 Drake University Des Moines, IA 67 University of Delaware Newark, DE 68 Texas State University San Marcos, TX
Here are some additional great schools for Music students that almost earned our Best Music Bachelor's Degree Schools award.
View the Best Music Bachelor's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.
One of 10 majors within the Visual & Performing Arts area of study, Music has other similar majors worth exploring.
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| General Music | 7,729 |
| Music Performance | 4,124 |
| Other Music | 778 |
| Music Theory & Composition | 655 |
| Music Technology | 637 |
| Jazz Studies | 379 |
| Voice Performance | 331 |
| Stringed Instruments | 180 |
| Keyboard Instruments | 164 |
| Music Pedagogy | 122 |
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Fine & Studio Arts | 24,602 |
| Design & Applied Arts | 19,770 |
| Drama & Theater Arts | 13,117 |
| Film, Video & Photographic Arts | 11,759 |
| General Visual & Performing Arts | 3,794 |
| Arts & Media Management | 3,065 |
| Dance | 2,676 |
| Other Visual Art | 492 |
| Crafts, Folk Art & Artisanry | 71 |
| Community/Environmental/Socially-Engaged Art | 9 |
