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2024 Best Music Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region

82 Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region
2,498 Bachelor's Degrees
$23,718 Avg Early-Career Salary
Ranked #34 in popularity, music is one of the most sought-after bachelor's degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 82 schools in the Middle Atlantic Region to determine which ones were the best for music students pursuing a bachelor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,498 bachelor's degrees in music during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Music School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Music Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region Your choice of music for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality music program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor'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 bachelor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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

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 in the Middle Atlantic Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that 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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Music in the Middle Atlantic Region

The following list ranks 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.

12 Top Middle Atlantic Region Schools for a Bachelor's in Music

1
Juilliard crest
The Juilliard School
New York, NY
85 Annual Graduates
$25,000 Median Student Debt

The Juilliard School is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in music. Located in the city of New York, Juilliard is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in music from The Juilliard School

2
NYU crest
New York University
New York, NY
47 Annual Graduates
$23,570 Median Starting Salary
$25,000 Median Student Debt

It is hard to beat New York University if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in music. Located in the city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the music program make around $23,570 in their early career salary.

More information about a bachelor’s in music from New York University

3
21 Annual Graduates
$24,431 Median Student Debt

Carnegie Mellon University is a wonderful decision for students interested in a bachelor's degree in music. Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in music from Carnegie Mellon University

4
10 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in music needs to take a look at Columbia University in the City of New York. Located in the city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in music from Columbia University in the City of New York

5
55 Annual Graduates
$13,282 Median Starting Salary
$23,250 Median Student Debt

Johns Hopkins is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Baltimore.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the music program earn about $13,282 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a bachelor’s in music from Johns Hopkins University

6
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
3 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in music from University of Pennsylvania

7
127 Annual Graduates
$12,050 Median Starting Salary
$26,769 Median Student Debt

Located in the midsize city of Rochester, University of Rochester is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the music program earn around $12,050 in their early career salary.

More information about a bachelor’s in music from University of Rochester

8
86 Annual Graduates
$20,620 Median Starting Salary
$27,000 Median Student Debt

Manhattan School of Music is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of New York.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the music program make around $20,620 in their early career salary.

More information about a bachelor’s in music from Manhattan School of Music

9
New School University crest
The New School
New York, NY
109 Annual Graduates
$17,971 Median Starting Salary
$24,000 Median Student Debt

New School University is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the music program earn around $17,971 in their early career salary.

More information about a bachelor’s in music from The New School

10
29 Annual Graduates
$21,614 Median Student Debt

UMCP is a very large public university located in the large suburb of College Park.More information about a bachelor’s in music from University of Maryland - College Park

11
Lafayette crest
Lafayette College
Easton, PA
5 Annual Graduates

Lafayette is a small private not-for-profit college located in the large suburb of Easton.More information about a bachelor’s in music from Lafayette College

12

WCUPA is a large public university located in the suburb of West Chester.

Those music students who get their bachelor's degree from West Chester University of Pennsylvania earn $13,092 more than the typical music grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in music from West Chester University of Pennsylvania

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Music Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region award.

Rank College Location
13 Temple University Philadelphia, PA
14 University of Delaware Newark, DE
15 Syracuse University Syracuse, NY
16 Messiah University Mechanicsburg, PA
16 Rutgers University - New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ
17 Skidmore College Saratoga Springs, NY
18 Catholic University of America Washington, DC
19 University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA
20 Ithaca College Ithaca, NY

Best Music Colleges by State

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

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
New York 275 1,120
Pennsylvania 274 632
Maryland 207 209
New Jersey 193 433
Delaware 130 17
District of Columbia 126 87

View All Rankings >

Music is one of 10 different types of Visual & Performing Arts programs to choose from.

Music Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
General Music 1,116
Music Performance 686
Music Technology 141
Jazz Studies 128
Voice Performance 100
Music Theory & Composition 87
Keyboard Instruments 66
Stringed Instruments 57
Music History 44
Other Music 38

Majors Similar to Music

Related Major Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts 4,260
Design & Applied Arts 4,181
Drama & Theater Arts 2,941
Film, Video & Photographic Arts 2,439
Arts & Media Management 705
Dance 686
General Visual & Performing Arts 556
Other Visual Art 206
Crafts, Folk Art & Artisanry 16

Notes and References

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