2024 Best Music Bachelor's Degree Schools in District of Columbia

Music is of the hottest bachelor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #34 most popular major in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 3 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Music Bachelor's Degree Schools in District of Columbia ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 87 bachelor's degrees in music to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Music School for Your Bachelor's Degree

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. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

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 Early-Career Salaries

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.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to music students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other music students want to attend this school to pursue a bachelor's degree.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for music to pay back their student loans after receiving their bachelor's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized music related body.

Our complete 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

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Music Bachelor's Degree Schools in District of Columbia list, to help you choose the best school for you.

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.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Music in District of Columbia

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in music.

Top District of Columbia Schools for a Bachelor's in Music

1

Catholic University of America
Washington, DC

47 Annual Graduates

$29,342 Median Starting Salary

$24,625 Median Student Debt

Catholic University of America is a good decision for individuals interested in a bachelor's degree in music. Located in the large city of Washington, CUA is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the music program earn about $29,342 in their early career salary.

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

2

American University
Washington, DC

5 Annual Graduates

American University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in music. The American University is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Washington.More information about a bachelor’s in music from American University

3

Howard University
Washington, DC

19 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat Howard University if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in music. Located in the city of Washington, Howard is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in music from Howard University

Best Music Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

Explore all the Best Music Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Area or other specific states within that region.

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

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Music

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

Music Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
General Music	49
Music Performance	26
Keyboard Instruments	5
Music Pedagogy	4
Voice Performance	2
Music History	1

Most Popular Majors Related to Music

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Fine & Studio Arts	101
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	45
Drama & Theater Arts	44
Design & Applied Arts	39
Arts & Media Management	35
General Visual & Performing Arts	16
Dance	14

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• 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 the rest 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.