Ranked by graduate earnings

Best colleges for Music

50 Music programs ranked by real graduate earnings, debt, and completion - from the College Scorecard Field-of-Study data.

Quick answer

For Music, Messiah University (Pennsylvania) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $77,342. Rankings reflect earnings, debt, and completion - not reputation or cost - across 50 programs with published outcome data.

#	School	Credential	Median earnings	Median debt	Completers	Score
1	Messiah University Mechanicsburg, PA	Master's Degree	$77,342	$21,472	36	92.4
2	The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$59,218	$15,175	48	92
3	The University of Texas at El Paso El Paso, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$60,172	$14,894	29	91.3
4	Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA	Master's Degree	$79,115	$14,817	9	90.1
5	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$58,127	$18,007	40	90
6	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	Bachelor's Degree	$59,217	$21,500	44	88.3
7	The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$59,198	$22,714	67	88.3
8	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$58,071	$19,500	26	86.8
9	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI	Doctoral Degree	$64,672	-	49	86.5
10	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	Doctoral Degree	$75,055	-	33	86.1
11	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$53,875	$18,039	86	86
12	University of Hartford West Hartford, CT	Master's Degree	$54,836	$19,227	43	85.4
13	Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$65,533	-	33	85.2
14	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	Bachelor's Degree	$61,446	-	46	85.2
15	Northeastern University Boston, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$60,974	$25,500	40	85.2
16	University of North Texas Denton, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$55,705	$23,425	227	84.8
17	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD	Doctoral Degree	$68,660	-	26	84.5
18	West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA	Master's Degree	$66,675	-	24	84
19	New Jersey City University Jersey City, NJ	Master's Degree	$82,054	-	19	83.8
20	University of Houston Houston, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$56,667	$25,000	77	83.5
21	Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$58,743	$25,630	48	83.5
22	Texas Woman's University Denton, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$56,884	$22,137	24	83.4
23	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	Doctoral Degree	$66,572	-	22	83.3
24	Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX	Master's Degree	$68,888	-	20	83.2
25	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Doctoral Degree	$77,654	-	17	83
26	Illinois State University Normal, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$54,767	$20,500	33	82.8
27	Northeastern University Professional Programs Boston, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$60,974	$25,500	-	82.6
28	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	Doctoral Degree	$65,495	-	20	82.3
29	University of Delaware Newark, DE	Master's Degree	$66,502	-	18	82.1
30	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	Bachelor's Degree	$56,104	$24,148	35	82
31	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	Doctoral Degree	$59,885	-	30	81.8
32	Texas A & M University-Commerce Commerce, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$55,438	$24,728	48	81.2
33	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	Doctoral Degree	$68,693	-	12	81.1
34	Christopher Newport University Newport News, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$63,852	-	17	81.1
35	Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ	Bachelor's Degree	$56,008	$25,492	44	80.8
36	University of Memphis Memphis, TN	Master's Degree	$57,099	$24,597	23	80.8
37	James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$51,882	$20,968	79	80.5
38	Florida International University Miami, FL	Bachelor's Degree	$50,677	$12,722	39	80.4
39	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI	Master's Degree	$62,193	$30,158	50	80.2
40	University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, NC	Doctoral Degree	$61,755	-	16	80.1
41	The University of Texas at San Antonio San Antonio, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$53,878	$23,703	44	80.1
42	Boston University Boston, MA	Doctoral Degree	$60,156	-	19	80
43	Academy of Art University San Francisco, CA	Master's Degree	$62,287	-	12	79.6
44	Texas State University San Marcos, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$52,320	$23,250	92	79.6
45	University of North Texas Denton, TX	Doctoral Degree	$64,315	$36,476	45	79.1
46	University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE	Doctoral Degree	$60,133	-	16	79
47	CGSU CUNY Graduate School and University Center New York, NY	Doctoral Degree	$59,802	-	18	79
48	University of Georgia Athens, GA	Doctoral Degree	$56,716	-	28	78.8
49	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH	Doctoral Degree	$57,576	-	23	78.8
50	Monmouth University West Long Branch, NJ	Bachelor's Degree	$55,526	$24,625	26	78.7

Filter Music by state & degree level →

Hidden Gems for Music

Lower-profile schools with a genuinely strong outcome score for Music - the famous brand names and mega-flagships are deliberately filtered out.

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	Messiah University Mechanicsburg, PA Strong Music outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$77,342	79%	92.4
2	Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA Strong Music outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$79,115	91%	90.1
3	University of Hartford West Hartford, CT Strong Music outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$54,836	96%	85.4
4	Sonoma State University Rohnert Park, CA Strong Music outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$65,533	93%	85.2
5	West Chester University of Pennsylvania West Chester, PA Strong Music outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$66,675	78%	84
6	New Jersey City University Jersey City, NJ Strong Music outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$82,054	98%	83.8
7	Sam Houston State University Huntsville, TX Strong Music outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$58,743	90%	83.5
8	Texas Woman's University Denton, TX Strong Music outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$56,884	96%	83.4
9	Illinois State University Normal, IL Strong Music outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$54,767	88%	82.8
10	Northeastern University Professional Programs Boston, MA Strong Music outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$60,974	-	82.6
11	University of Delaware Newark, DE Strong Music outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$66,502	71%	82.1
12	Texas A & M University-Commerce Commerce, TX Strong Music outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$55,438	92%	81.2

Hidden Gems use the same College Scorecard outcome score, then drop the pool’s most-selective brands (bottom-quartile admit rate) and largest campuses (top-quartile enrollment). Schools that don’t report admit rate or enrollment are not dropped by that guard.

How we ranked this

Programs are scored 0-100 within the Music field (CIP 50.09) using three College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (weighted 70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, inverted so lower debt scores higher), and completer count (10%, log-scaled). Each input is percentile-ranked against the other Music programs, so the score is robust to outliers and comparable across schools. Programs with no published earnings are excluded - never given a fabricated number. This is the same engine that powers our interactive Major Rankings. Minimum 5 scorable programs required to publish.

Frequently asked questions

Which college has the best Music program?+

By our outcome score, Messiah University (Pennsylvania) ranks #1 for Music, with median graduate earnings of $77,342.

How are these Music programs ranked?+

Each program gets a 0-100 outcome score from three real College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, lower is better), and completer count (10%). Programs are compared within the major so the score reflects the best schools for this field specifically.

Where does the earnings and debt data come from?+

The U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard Field-of-Study file, which publishes median earnings and median debt by institution and major (4-digit CIP). Figures are post-graduation medians; programs without published earnings are not scored and are omitted from this ranking.

Can I filter Music programs by state or degree level?+

Yes. This page shows the national top programs; use the interactive Major Rankings tool to filter the same data by state, and by credential level (bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral).

Keep exploring

Music rankings (filterable)All major rankings Browse colleges Tuition-free colleges All Best-Of guides

Data sources: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (Field of Study) · IPEDS Completions. Figures are the most recent values published in each federal dataset; cells with no published value are shown as “-” and never estimated. GetInto.College does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.